Open your eyes
by islandgirl33
Summary: "Open your eyes," she said. "It's going to be ok, I can help you," the blueness of her gaze dazzling the darkness all around him. Far from being the end, Daryl's story was just beginning, as he is introduced to a whole new world away from Alexandria. Sienna was mysterious, strange and beautiful, and the last thing Daryl had expected to see after running into serious trouble...
1. ONE

**A/N - As people that know me are aware, I love writing about Daryl. But this is my first attempt at writing a Daryl/OC story which I have wanted to do for a long time, (but I have never written a main OC before so I am a little nervous!) Because lets face it, Daryl badly needs some loving! So, I want to explore how that could happen for him, and how I would like it play out and affect him. This is also an idea I have had for a story for a while.** ** _What if the rest of the world hadn't been infected in the same way?_**

 **It starts off just after where season 5 ended, with Daryl and Aaron back out on the road again...**

 **I would LOVE to hear thoughts on this. Also, I have a whole storyline planned out, but if anyone is up to beta my crazy ideas please PM. I'd love to bounce them off someone.**

* * *

The wind was gently blowing through the trees, the sky an unusual mixture of vibrant oranges and dull greys, the sun a fiery red orb of light slowly sinking beneath the horizon as threads of light lingered in the sky, mingling with the rolling clouds. Daryl crouched down and flicked the hair from his eyes as he focused in on some prints set into the dirty ground. He put his fingers down to examine them carefully as he narrowed his eyes.

"Anything?" Aaron asked, from where he was stood beside him, peering down intently.

Daryl remained quiet as he concentrated. They had been out here again for a few days and there had been very few signs of movement, from either the living or the dead. It was unsettling. The air around them had become eerily silent. Now they had found a hilly track running through the edges to some woods along a river, it was as good a route as any to follow in their search for other survivors.

They had stopped, reaching the top of a slope when Daryl had spotted the tracks.

"There's been people past here, survivors. But not for a while," he said, his expression perplexed as he jumped back to his feet.

Daryl was an expert tracker, he knew the difference between human and walker tracks easily enough, he could tell these particular prints belonged to a group of humans, but they weren't new, it looked to be another dead end.

Aaron nodded, satisfied by Daryl's explanation.

Sighing, Aaron took off his backpack, he tossed it to the ground before he perched down to rest up against a tree for a moment.

"Here," he said, handing Daryl a granola bar from inside his carefully stashed backpack.

"Thanks," Daryl responded, as he took it from him.

Sinking down on to the ground too, Daryl tore the wrapper off to hungrily take bites out of the stale bar as if he hadn't eaten in weeks.

"We should probably press on, head down to the river," Aaron said, his eyes down scanning a crumpled map in his hands, before he looked up to point with his index finger in the direction of the river.

"Okay," Daryl mumbled in agreement, stuffing the remainder of the bar into his mouth.

….

It had been a strange day, nothing had been quite as it had seemed at first. It had rained non stop, before turning brighter and sunnier, filling the air with a warm sensation, before it had taken on a more majestic feel as the sun had sunk down low on the hills.

"It's so peaceful out here," Aaron remarked a couple of minutes later, unscrewing the lid on a bottle of water to take a swing as he glanced out in front of him at the beautiful scenery as the sun set in the sky. "You could almost forget the whole worlds gone to hell."

Daryl was looking straight ahead too, his hair blowing slightly in the soothing evening air. It was calm and peaceful out here. It was times like this that Daryl felt most at home, most free and alive. Especially now away from all the politics and bullshit that had been going on back at Alexandria.

They were over 100 miles away from their walled community now. Having drifted further and further out in their quest to find any signs of other people suitable enough to approach to come back and audition to join their small safe zone.

Daryl and Aaron hadn't been back at Alexandria long after returning with Morgan from their previous eventful trip. But in that short time everything seemed to have changed there. By some bizarre twist of fate Rick was now pretty much calling the shots. But they had lost several people, including one of Daryl's original group, Noah - the kid he had rescued from the hospital, something Daryl didn't like to think about now.

Things seemed to be changing more and more each day at Alexandria. Daryl's group too. The fierce, fighting survival spirt in them, seemed to be slowly fading away the more comfortable they allowed themselves to become there. It was as though they had been lulled in to a false sense of security by the fancy houses and immaculate streets as they started to live in relative luxury in what had once seemed an impossible fantasy. The seemingly endless supplies of food and water, electricity, and creature comforts that they had only been able to dream about just months before. Even Carol had announced to Daryl the night before he had left, that she was finally starting to think they had found their home, their place in the world. That they should do everything they possibly could to defend it no matter the cost.

Daryl hadn't said anything in response. Carol had scoffed at the original occupants of Alexandria when they had first arrived there, saying they were children and they believed in fairytales. Now it appeared she too was starting to believe in fairytales, that they could live there forever within the walls, alongside the original occupants and everything their little community represented. Shutting the rest of the world out.

She had looked at him as though she had wanted him to believe it too. But all Daryl had been able to do was shrug dismissively. He didn't believe in fairytales. He never had, and he wasn't about to start now. Daryl saw Alexandria for what it was. A place where you could try, that was all, just try. But he knew it wouldn't be long before trouble came looking for them again.

He had chosen to stay there and make an effort. Because he had no-where else to go, nothing else to do, and at the end of the day they were and always would be _his_ people. His family. His life.

But Daryl knew the lights would go out sooner or later. The food would run out, the gas would go bad and the supply of bullets would come to an end and eventually the walls would come down. He knew that, and so did Aaron. If they had any real chance, they needed to find more people. Doctors and engineers, scientists, electricians, farmers even, if they had any chance of their community surviving in the longterm. But even Rick didn't seem to really get that now, too caught up in the here and now. Paranoid of anyone new coming in to their new safe haven. It was 'us and them' Rick had said.

...

Here in the peaceful outdoors, Daryl shifted his gaze sideways to where his new friend was sat quietly beside him out here in the middle of no-where.

They had both told Rick about the threats they had encountered outside the walls and the need to find more people, but at the time Rick had just seemed too pre-occupied in taking over as leader to give it much attention. He had just sent them back out to investigate further and report back. Which had been more than okay with Daryl at the time, he had been keen to get back out here, rather than be cooped up in a place where he had to pretend to be someone he knew he wasn't.

With Aaron it wasn't so much like that. They were an odd companionship. Aaron with his clean-cut appearance, polite mannerisms, expensive cologne and abercrombie & fitch jacket, couldn't be more unlike Daryl with his scruffy stubble, shaggy hair, tattered clothes and gruff southern accent. But somehow they had formed an unexpected bond, both having been treated as outsiders for most of their lives. They understood each other at the most basic level. Aaron had seen something in Daryl, and he had given him a purpose again. They had discovered a mutual love of the outdoors and adventure, of being willing to put themselves in danger if they thought something positive could come out of it. Daryl admired Aaron's sense of optimism and hope, his passion for seeing the good in people. For seeing the good in him. Aaron seemed to genuinely understand Daryl, knowing when to talk to him and when to leave him to distance himself in his thoughts.

…

"Wind is changing," Aaron casually stated, as a long blade of grass swayed beside him. "You know what that means?…All bets are off, anything can happen.." He explained. "You think.."

"Ssshh.." Daryl suddenly interrupted, holding his hand up, putting his ear to the wind. "You hear that?" It was very faint, but Daryl was sure out there in the distance he could make out the sound of a dog barking.

Aaron nodded, rubbing his chin with furrowed brows.

Daryl reached for the listening device and put it straight to his ear and he instantly heard voices talking, laughing even. They sounded pretty carefree, and curiously somewhere in the background Daryl was sure he could hear faint music too.

He wrinkled his forehead. The voices sounded peculiar like they were from a different time, a time when there wasn't such a darkness in the world. They were speaking english, but they had accents, he was pretty sure they weren't American, he would take a guess at British, it was hard to hear them properly. It was almost as though he had stumbled across distant radio station.

"There's people out there," he mumbled, handing it over to Aaron to see what he made of it. He then reached down for the binoculars they kept with them and he put them up to his face to investigate further.

From where he was sat on the top of the slope, Daryl was able to get a good look down through the trees in the direction of the river. They were powerful binoculars with high quietly lenses and an impressive magnification. He scanned the area thoroughly, the same thud of adrenaline hitting him that he always seemed to experience when checking out any potential sightings of new people. More often than not, he knew people were mostly bad and a threat now.

His beady eyes moved across a range of blurred, fuzzy images of greenery, before finally he stopped deadly still. There in the distance, he could clearly make out the outline of a figure, a woman's figure.

He zoomed in further to see to his amazement a shot of long blonde hair falling down her back, the early evening sun was bouncing off it, making it shimmer with shades of platinum and gold. He swallowed hard, he hadn't seen blonde hair like that since…..

He blinked several times. She was too far away to be any real threat to them, he would just watch for a moment and see what she did and who else she was with, whether they were good or bad. Then he could decide on their next course of action.

As he studied her closely Daryl was unable to stop a sharp pang of emotion from rocketing through him. From the back she looked so familiar, it was almost like a dream. She was wearing light blue skinny jeans, a brown belt, and tight fitting white top.

Then suddenly she turned around, and Daryl felt his jaw gape open slightly as he pressed the binoculars into his face. He hadn't been expecting her to be so beautiful looking.

The initial hit of adrenaline he had felt when he had first put the binoculars to his eyes increased, she was an enigma. He zoomed in on her some more. Trying to get a better feel for who she was and what she was doing out here. Was she dangerous? Who were her group? He allowed his gaze to slide over her full profile, he could see she had perfect womanly curves and she had a gun strapped to her waist. He swallowed hard, she didn't look like she had been roughing it out here like every other survivor they had encountered. She must be part of another community. But where?

He moved his focus up to her face again, even from this distance he could see she had piercing blue eyes, they were wide and almond shaped and her sun-kissed features were perfectly symmetrical. She looked so serene just gazing in to the distance, a strand of her blonde hair blowing gently in the breeze. She was fucking perfect.

What the hell was she doing out here? It was un-nerving.

Daryl felt his pulse speed up even more as he watched her, the sight of her in the distance had taken him by surprise and had triggered some sort of automatic reaction inside him that he annoyingly had little control over. A part of him that he tried so damn hard to suppress, both before and after the outbreak. But really and truthfully deep down, he knew it was the part of him that kept him breathing and his heart beating. The flutter developing inside him of a natural basic instinct as blood uncontrollably rushed down to his groin.

He scowled deeply, even more annoyed with himself, he was never normally one to be distracted by a pretty face. Out here he had a job to do. She wasn't alone, that much he was sure of. He followed her with the binoculars to see she was bending down, and to his surprise a dog came in to sight. She was ruffling it's fur affectionately as it looked up at her adoringly. It was a big dog, almost like a wolf, with light grey fur and a bushy tail. Daryl would take a guess at some kind of husky cross.

He watched as the mysterious blonde turned her head to address someone else and smile.

Daryl scanned across in the direction she was looking to see two guys come into sight as the dog disappeared. They had a smilier look about them to the woman. They looked well dressed in jeans, shirts and casual jackets, too well dressed for people surviving out here in hell, with modern haircuts, strong jawlines and eyes full of life, they didn't look as though they had been living through the outbreak of the deadly infection for years. They looked like just a group of friends taking an outdoors vacation.

The sight of them was a little surreal. As though the world hadn't fallen into complete darkness.

Daryl turned his attention back to the blonde. She had stopped smiling now, and was looking over in the direction that Daryl was sat perched on top of the slope. He was too far away for her to be able to notice him, but the expression on her face was almost as though she knew she was being watched as her wide eyes glided upwards and across, making Daryl feel uneasy, like she knew he was spying on them.

But he couldn't look away, something about her was just so damn appealing, like she had him under a spell.

Then he heard Aaron saying something beside him, "Huh?" Daryl muttered, still staring down at the blonde.

"For the third time, I said….whatcha see?" Aaron asked impatiently. Bringing Daryl back down to earth with a thud, as he focused back in on reality and Aaron's voice.

He lowered the binoculars and tossed his hair back to look at Aaron, to see he was staring over at him with curious eyes.

"There's people down there," Daryl explained, handing him the binoculars. "Don't sound like they're from round here though," he mumbled.

"No, I would say, British. What they're doing out here though, I can't say," Aaron remarked, as he focused on looking down at them too through the binoculars.

"Ah…" He suddenly said, quirking an eyebrow with a faint smirk. "No need to ask what kept your attention for so long," he joked to a slightly red-faced Daryl.

Daryl looked away, embarrassed, as he realised Aaron too must have caught sight of the gorgeous looking woman that Daryl had been staring at a little longer than he should have been.

Daryl wasn't used to being singled out for staring at women, normally he would be the one dishing it out to the other guys, making them feel uncomfortable for that sort of thing. Under different circumstances he would have dismissed Aaron's remark too with some sort of smart ass retort. But something in this situation stopped him from doing that. Instead, all Daryl could do here was narrow his eyes and look away with a serious stony expression.

He suddenly felt irritation come over him. He was annoyed that he _had_ been so caught up in staring at an attractive stranger. It was dangerous, he of all people knew that, and the physical effect seeing such a hot-looking woman had provoked in Daryl was not something he was at all comfortable with. He'd been a loner most of his life and had never really been one to openly check women out, even before the outbreak a woman would have had to have been really special to have caught his attention.

"Quite something the female form, isn't it?" Aaron joked some more.

Daryl ignored him, remaining silent and serious he swallowed hard as he put his hand up to his face. They had discussed most things out here, but never Daryl's sex life, or lack of.

Normally, nowadays, Daryl could try and forget the fact he hadn't had sex in years. He hadn't even been close to having any kind of intimate, physical contact with a woman since the start of the outbreak. There had been a lot of times when it had been the last thing on his mind. But then there had been the few occasions during the quiet times, when he hadn't been able to think of anything else, where he had been hit with physical urges so powerful that he had felt like he was going to explode with frustration and the need for a release. He was a man at the end of the day, he had needs, no matter how much he tried to pretend that he didn't.

...

He brushed his hair our of his eyes with his fingers, trying to re-focus, "You think we should approach them?" he asked in a gruff serious voice. He was curious to find out more about the group of people that had so strangely just appeared, seemingly out of no-where. From what he could tell and his gut instinct they weren't psychopaths.

"Not yet, lets just track them for a bit first," Aaron replied, his tone turning serious too.

Daryl nodded, he respected that decision. He knew Aaron was always cautious about approaching other survivors too quickly, not without knowing more about who they were and what they could potentially do. Especially now after their near death experience at the hands of the group they had named the wolves. A group that appeared to be on a whole new level of psychopathic.

But Daryl felt certain this mysterious group down by the river weren't like the wolves. They weren't bad people. He wasn't sure why he was so certain, but he just was. Aaron had told him once that Daryl could tell the difference between good and bad people, and Daryl felt that to be the case now for some un-explained reason.

Right now he wanted to approach these people, possibly more for their own protection than anything. They hardly looked like experienced survivors and that thought alone was playing on Daryl's mind.

He moved back towards the tree where he had leaned his crossbow and backpack. He looked down to open his backpack when he suddenly caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye, sprinting towards him in the distance was a dog. A big grey wolf like dog.

As it got closer to him the dog broke into a gentle trot, before it bravely coming right up to approach Daryl.

Rather than feel threatened and reach for his weapon, Daryl simply held his hand out to the animal in a friendly gesture.

"Come here, boy," he called out in a low voice. He could tell the creature meant him no harm.

With a wagging tail and gentle eyes the dog nudged it's head in to Daryl's out stretched hand. Two striking blue eyes peered out from it's light grey fur as it sniffed around him.

"What ya doing out here? Huh?" Daryl asked, ruffling it's fur. Far from being the mangey mess he would expect, the dog's coat was soft and glossy, and it had a dark brown collar around it's neck.

"You belong to someone, don't ya? You out here protecting them?" Daryl asked, his voice softening.

The dog continued to stare back at him, such deep expression forming in it's ice blue eyes, that it freaked Daryl out a little. "You trying to tell me something, eh?"

"We should move on," Aaron suddenly called out, distracting Daryl away from the dog as he turned his head back to his friend for a second, before the night suddenly took a turn for the darker.

Daryl looked back to the area around the tree ready to gather his things, to see that the dog had now disappeared as mysteriously as it had arrived.

Shaking his head in confusion, Daryl reached down for his crossbow, when he suddenly felt a presence behind him, and he tensed, hearing the click of a gun.

"Don't move." A deep rough voice said.

"Drop it and turn around," the same voice ordered.

Daryl scowled deeply, slowly turning to see two guys. One with a gun pointed straight at him, the other moving to stand by his side. They were both filthy and scruffy looking, with long unkept hair, dirty faces and threatening eyes. On closer inspection, Daryl could also see they both had a clear W drawn on to their foreheads too, an indication that they must be part of the same group Morgan had told him and Aaron about. The group that had set the trap for them, nearly killing them. _The wolves!_

In that single moment, Daryl's mind flashed back to the numerous walkers they had discovered with W carved into their foreheads. This was serious.

He glanced to his left to see there was a third man gripping Aaron by the elbow, aiming a gun straight into the side of his neck. Daryl's eyes met Aaron's. They knew they were in deep fucking shit!

"Look, we don't want any trouble," Aaron spoke up, his voice shaking slightly.

Daryl remained silent, too angry to form a coherent sentence.

"Too late for that," the first man responded. "Move over to the tree," he gestured to a furious looking Daryl.

Reluctantly, Daryl obliged, the other guy had a weapon in his face, right now he was holding all the cards.

"Stop, there is something you need to know," Aaron quickly exclaimed.

"Quiet," the other man said, in a deep menacing tone.

"Tie him up," he said to the man next to Daryl, gesturing to the nearest tree with his gun.

"Really, you need to listen to what I have to say," Aaron continued, attempting to stall them as they ignored him.

Shoving Daryl hard against the tree, the second man proceeded to tie a rope around him, whilst the first still held the gun to his head.

Daryl grimaced, his deeply set eyes were shooting pure venom at the other men. He knew at that moment in time that he had two options. Fight back and let them shoot him now, or let them tie him up and leave him here for the dead to devour. The second being slightly more appealing, only due to it buying him more time.

Aaron though, had other ideas.

"We can help you. Let him go, and I'll tell you how," Aaron negotiated, his voice calmer.

"I already told you to shut the hell up," the first man yelled.

"We have a community!" Aaron blurted out.

Daryl screwed his face up, his eyes quickly meeting Aaron's in a cold unspoken communication. Daryl was willing Aaron with his eyes to keep his mouth shut. He knew Aaron probably had a plan, but despite that Daryl wasn't about to let him risk all their people's safety, just for his life.

"Shut that damn mouth of yours, or we'll shut it for you," the other man spoke up.

"Just saying, we can work something out," Aaron responded, holding his hand up. Just before the guy next to him slammed the side of his gun hard into the back of Aaron's skull, causing him to topple straight to the ground, as a thick trickle of blood gushed down his forehead. Before Aaron had the chance to get up again, the other guy had lifted his foot up to ram it against his head again and then repeatedly into his side.

Daryl felt his face darkening by the second, his blood was simmering beneath the surface. He was powerless to help his friend.

"Don't have to be like this," he grunted roughly, forcing himself to speak to them for the first time, without allowing himself to completely lose it. His slanted eyes were glowering out through the edges of his long dark hair, from where he was now tied to the tree, unable to move. He knew he had to do something. Fast.

The first man, the one with the gun that seemed to be in charge, held his arm up signalling to the man attacking Aaron to stop. He then turned his attention back to Daryl, his eyes cold and fierce.

"You know, the first settlers here, they hunted wolves. Put bounties on all their heads. Didn't take 'em too long to kill them all. But, they're back now," he said, still starting at Daryl.

Daryl glared at the other man some more, breathing deeply. He was fucking crazy; and Daryl knew he was planning to kill him. He felt his pulse pounding furiously, as he desperately tried to think of a plan, any possible way out of this.

Suddenly in the distance there was a series of loud bangs, causing everyone to turn their heads.

"What the hell?" The leader of the three men yelled. Looking across at his two companions.

"Come on," he ordered, cocking his head, his tone low and deadly.

"Don't go anywhere, we'll be right back," he added with a menacing chuckle, looking back at Daryl tied to the tree still.

After the three men had disappeared out of sight, Daryl looked over to where Aaron was slumped pretty much unconscious on the ground in a pool of blood. There was no point calling out to him, he was out of it.

Daryl looked around him desperately, the natural light fading fast as darkness crept in.

He cursed under his breath, he tried to move but the rope was bound so tightly around him that it made it near on impossible. He struggled as best as he could, pools of sweat sliding down his temple. But it was pointless. He was stuck. There was no way out.

Daryl had never felt so afraid in his life.

This was worse than the governor rolling up to the prison gates, or the slaughter table at terminus, or even having the gun pointed in his face moments before. All those times, there had still been a small chance of a way out. Right now, he was completely screwed. Any moment now the dead would come flocking, alerted by the noise, and once they got a sniff of him, Daryl knew that he was going to wish those bastards had put a bullet in him back when they'd had a chance.

He tried to slow his out of control breathing, glancing down to try and locate his crossbow, helplessly knowing it couldn't help him now anyway. He felt the metal of the knife he always carried on him weighing down in his pocket, if he could only get to that he might have a chance he thought even more desperately, wriggling and jerking to no avail. He wouldn't give up, he couldn't give up.

 _Today couldn't be the day he was going to die!_

"Damnit!" He yelled out in sheer frustration.

Then he saw it. Just one. It was a male about his age, tall with a blading head and foul rotting teeth and flesh.

As if in slow motion, it came ambling out of the trees. Taking each step as if it was about to collapse. But it just kept going. Each clumsy movement it made was like a slow, painful torture to a now utterly petrified and powerless Daryl.

' _This can't be how it ends'!_ He thought.

After every damn thing he had been through since the world had turned to shit, all the times he had put himself in danger, the people he had saved, the people he had lost, the faith he and his people had found to believe in something better…That was all just going to come crashing to a halt for him here. At the hands of one measly, weak and decaying walker. _This,_ was how his story was going to end?!…..

He shook his head, blinking his tired defeated eyes, sweat dripping down his entire body now. Maybe this was just how it was supposed to be, he resigned. Maybe he _was_ ready, maybe he wanted to die, to find some sort of peace at last.

He was tired of fighting all the time, of all the pain and the scars. It didn't matter how tough he was. It always left a scar. The bad shit had followed him wherever he went, had changed his life. It had messed everything and everyone he knew up.

But, maybe, that was the point. All the pain and the fear and the crap. Maybe going through that was what kept him moving forward, what pushed him. Maybe he had to get completely messed up before he could step up.

Daryl realised in that brief moment. He didn't want to die.

But if this really was the end, he would accept it and go out like a man. He screwed his fists in to tight balls, his mouth dry, his heart pounding out of his chest, watching the revolting dead corpse getting closer and closer to where he was helplessly tied to the tree as bait.

Snarling and growling louder as it reached it's target, it clumsily fell into him. Stooping over slightly, it's mouth made contact with Daryl's side just above his hip, clamping it's jaws firmly around him, sinking it's foul rotting teeth deep into Daryl's flesh.

Daryl closed his eyes, allowing the deep burn to soar around his body. _This,_ was what it felt like to be bitten by one of those things. He braced himself, ready for it to take another savage chunk out of him, trying unsuccessfully to send his mind to another place. This was the end for him. His time was up!

When he suddenly heard a thud. Followed by a hum of voices.

"Over here," a female voice said.

 _"Open your eyes."_

Daryl slowly prized his eyes open enough to be able to see with hazy vision that the walker had gone. In it's place two bright blue, almond shaped eyes were staring back at him, the light shining from them dazzling the darkness all around him.

Looking closer he saw blonde hair sweeping over the most beautiful face he had ever seen, the same face he had been so mesmerised with earlier that day. Thinking back to that now felt like a lifetime ago. _The blonde girl with the dog._

He looked deep into her eyes. She looked so familiar to him, like he'd known her face his whole life.

Then she spoke.

"Ssshh.." she said, holding a finger up to her lips. "Don't try to talk." Her voice was soft and clear with a British accent. "It's going to be okay, I can help you."

 **A/N - Thanks for reading. I would LOVE to hear what you think. I can't wait to get the next few chapters out :)**


	2. TWO

Daryl's eyes gaped open he was too stunned to speak.

He stared at the image of the woman in front of him. Her big blinking eyes were a brilliant shade of shimmering blue, shining back at him through the darkness. Her skin was flawless with a sprinkling of freckles over her nose. Her blonde hair was tied back in a loose ponytail, with long bangs sweeping across her face, framing her expressive eyes.

Was he hallucinating? Was she real?

Or was this really the end? Was _this_ what if felt like right before you died?

"We haven't got much time?" A male voice suddenly exclaimed, snapping Daryl back in to the present. Causing him to look past her to see there was a man with dark hair stood directly behind the mysterious blonde.

Daryl's gaze then wandered further, over to where he could make out another dark haired shadowy figure crouching down over a badly beaten Aaron. He was fairly certain they were the same two males he had seen with her earlier down by the river.

He felt his body tense, these people were strangers. He had no idea what they were doing here, but he knew to trust no-one.

"It's okay, you can trust me. I can help you." The blonde woman said as if reading his mind, her voice was calm and soothing and her eyes widened as she fixed them intently on his anxious face.

Daryl tried to speak but no words would come out of his dry mouth. His heart was pounding and his vision became hazy once again as he struggled to concentrate. He knew one thing for sure - _she was wrong!_ There was no damn way she could help him now.

He shifted slightly, and he winced with the pan in his side from where he had been viscously bitten moments earlier by the disgusting, rotting walker. Blood was seeping through his shirt and on to his leather vest. His narrow eyes looked back at her through his long hair as he tried to process what the hell was happening.

How had it come to this? After everything he was finishing up so vulnerable and alone tied to a tree, slowly dying a painful death.

Except he wasn't alone.

"He's been bitten," she said and her eyes lowered to Daryl's bloody side. She placed her hands cautiously on his waist pushing up his vest and shirt.

"Ahh.." Daryl cried out, as a searing pain stabbed through him and he attempted to retreat further back against the tree away from her.

"Sorry!" She apologised.

She leaned in to examine his wound some more. Her hands gently touched his exposed body and the light touch of her cool fingertips instantly soothed Daryl's aching skin and his soaring heartbeat slowed a little.

Whoever she was, Daryl didn't care anymore, in his last few minutes on this earth he was glad she was there.

He glanced down at her blonde hair as she continued to examine his bite wound. He knew he was slipping away, he was drifting in and out.

"It's fresh, we've got to it in time, he'll be fine," she announced sounding relieved.

Daryl scowled, he felt so powerless and weak, there was no way on this earth he was going to be fine. His time was up, this woman was deluded if she thought anything else. If he could just find the strength, he would tell her that.

"We have to untie him," she exclaimed to the guy stood behind her.

He nodded and he quickly produced a blade out of his pocket to set to work cutting through the rope bounding Daryl to the tree.

She turned away to rummage in a bag hung across her shoulder. She pulled out a few items, one that looked like a flask, the other a shot glass. She set them down on to the ground and she knelt on the floor holding up what looked like some sort of light from a tag around her neck to see what she was doing.

Daryl's dark blue eyes narrowed even more in confusion, his head was spinning. He looked to her waist to see she had a gun in her belt. The best thing she could do now would be to put a bullet in him.

"Here," she said, standing up again. She was holding up what looked like a shot of liquid, her eyes locked directly with his and Daryl felt, just for a brief moment, as though he wasn't so alone.

"You _have_ to drink this," she said firmly in her soft British accent.

Daryl looked from her beautiful face to the clear liquid in her hand. He wanted to refuse, to tell her to get the hell away from him. He wanted to keep his guard firmly up. If he was going out, he was going out like a man. But something inside him was telling him, as crazy as it seemed, this _was_ the right thing to do. The only thing to do!

Maybe, just maybe, this girl _was_ able to help him. Maybe out of no-where as fucked up as it seemed, he had found his guardian angel. Or, maybe he was just delirious with the poison swirling around in his veins, causing his fever to rage as the venom from the walker bite took effect on his weakened system.

Either way he had nothing to lose.

She put the shot glass up to his parched lips, "You need to take this," she reinforced, her tone deadly serious.

Without saying anything in response, Daryl simply swallowed the liquid. It tasted weird and it burned the back of his throat. But as soon as it was inside him he started to feel a tingle spread through his system, a sort of heavy warmth calming him.

He looked back to the blonde to see she had turned away again. This time it looked as though she was preparing some sort of injection.

His creased eyes slid sideways to where the other man was still busy untying him from the tight knots those psychotic bastards had put in the ropes, pinning him to the tree earlier. Using his knife the well-dressed, dark haired stranger was quickly loosening and cutting through the fraying rope.

"Louie, I need your help over here!" The second man yelled across from where he was now helping a bloodied and dazed looking Aaron to his feet.

"He's alive, but we've got to get him back, he needs help," he said urgently, referring to Aaron.

Daryl couldn't help but breathe a silent sigh of relief that it appeared his friend was okay. He was pretty sure that Aaron hadn't been bitten and hopefully by the looks of him he would still make it now. They didn't know who these people were, but they didn't have any choice but to trust them and hope for the best.

He watched some more as both the men now hoisted Aaron up, draping his arms around their shoulders to walk away with him.

Daryl looked back to the blonde woman again. They were alone now, just the two of them.

Well, almost alone, as he suddenly noticed grey fur and ice blue eyes watching him again. It was the big dog from earlier. It was sat beside the tree looking up at him with the same intense stare from earlier right before it had disappeared on him. Right before Daryl and Aaron had been set upon by the gang of men they knew as the 'wolves'. Maybe if he'd taken more notice of the dog's deep warning eyes back then, he wouldn't be in such a mess now...

"We have to go!" One of the two men called back to the blonde.

"I'll be there in a minute," she replied, her eyes still down.

"Go!" Daryl managed to grunt in a rough voice.

She ignored him and cursed to herself under her breath as she filled the syringe in her hands, pulling the plunger to fill it with air equal to the fluid, before pushing it down, injecting all of the air from the syringe into the vial. Pulling the plunger out again to withdraw some fluid.

Daryl moved his head, and he suddenly felt a little more alert. He spoke to her properly for the first time. "I've been bit you stupid bitch, just put a bullet in me and go, get the hell out of here," he growled deeply. Realizing suddenly at that moment that having a bullet in his brain was actually the _last_ thing he wanted.

But his mind flashed back to the evil glint in the eyes of the men that had put him here. They would be back any second, and he thought back to the terrible fate befallen on another blonde woman. The one he and Aaron had found ripped open and tied to a tree with a W carved into her head not so long ago. He couldn't risk that happening to the woman in front of him now.

He didn't know her, but he knew he didn't want that to happen to her.

"No, I won't leave you," she insisted and she placed the syringe between her teeth, causing her hair to fall over her eyes as she once again put her hands to Daryl's exposed swollen and bleeding skin.

She cleaned the area around where he had been bitten with an alcoholic wipe, it was low down on his side above his groin and she formed a V with her finger and thumb in order to insert the needle in carefully at a 45 degree angle, doing it quickly before he had time to tense up any more.

"There," she said breathlessly, pulling away.

In that moment it was as though another intense wave of warmth shot through Daryl's entire body, making him feel weightless, and as though he was on cloud nine. Everything slowed down and nothing hurt anymore, his mind was still, his body free and everything felt so surreal to him.

 _What the hell had she given him?_

"You may start to feel a little strange for a while, trippy even, but in a good way. You're going to be fine now," she explained, looking at him.

Then she smiled.

Just for a second, but it made her whole face light up, and at that moment Daryl felt as though he could fly.

Suddenly the dog started barking, loudly and urgently as if pleading with them.

"We have to be quick!" She exclaimed, her smile fading. Darting to the back of the tree to finish slackening off the rope around him.

As the rope quickly fell to the floor, she dashed back to Daryl's side and she put her arm around his waist to support him as they stumbled away into the dark night.

Daryl still felt light-headed and a little disorientated as they walked through the black woods. He had no idea where they were going as they wandered on in silence, following the dog. Before a bright light appeared in the distance, beaming through the trees as if it was guiding them.

As they got closer to the light and away from the woods, they reached a large flat clearing. Daryl could quite clearly see to his utter amazement that the bright, strobe like lights, were coming from a helicopter. Far from there being just the two guys from earlier there to meet them, Daryl could see that there appeared to be a whole team of people buzzing around. All looking official in some sort of military style uniforms.

What the hell was going on?

He knew he should feel threatened, afraid and defensive. But instead all Daryl could feel was relieved, safe even, feeling almost as if he was floating still, like he wasn't altogether there in the present moment.

As soon as they came into sight an older looking authoritative guy came straight up to approach them.

"What have we got?" he asked the blonde woman.

"He was bitten by one of the infected, but…" was all Daryl could catch of her explanation, before her voice was drowned out by the sound of the rotating blades spinning around on the helicopter. All he could see were her lips moving and the other man nodding at her. Before he gestured to what looked like two men in medical uniforms to come over.

Within seconds Daryl found himself being stretchered in to the helicopter. The next thing he could feel they were in the air.

Daryl had never been in a helicopter before and he had no idea where they were going, but at that moment he didn't care. He was still so comfortable in his body, nothing was even the slightest bit unpleasant. Before he felt a little itchy, but when he scratched it it was awesome, like he'd had this horrible itch for years and he'd finally got to scratch it. Drifting in and out of consciousness, Daryl suddenly felt his body go weightless again, as though he was sinking down further and further, and he was no longer in the helicopter...

 _He was back in the woods._

 _He was marching following Merle, he had his crossbow in his hand and they were stalking something. Merle was laughing loudly and Daryl was stony faced behind him, frowning._

 _Then he was no longer in the woods, he was back at the prison. He was talking to Rick, but he couldn't hear what Rick was saying. Something about getting prepared. Daryl was trying to talk to him, shout at him even, but Rick just turned to walk away not listening._

 _Then Daryl could feel himself lying down again. He wasn't quite sure where he was, but he could see long blonde hair and big blue eyes looking over at him. He could feel light delicate fingers gripping his. No-one had ever held his hand like that before. He felt warm and fuzzy again. She was back._

 _"Beth," he called out, his voice hoarse and croaky._

 _"I found you," he croaked some more, his voice wobbling. "I found you," he repeated._

 _"You found me," she responded._

 _"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I shouldn't have let you go, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry….please…promise.." he broke off._

 _"Don't leave," he whimpered, "Don't ever leave me again," he mumbled, his voice cracking up even more._

 _"I promise, I won't leave, I'm not going anywhere," she replied softly, gripping his hand a little tighter. But her voice was different. She was different._

He opened his eyes a little wider. To see it wasn't Beth looking back at him. It was another blonde, the one from earlier by the river, the one that had saved his life.

He blinked some more, aware he was back in the helicopter. But he didn't feel scared.

Just hours before he had thought it had been the end. But he realized now perhaps it wasn't the end, perhaps in some strange unexplainable way, it was just the beginning...

 **A/N - Thanks so much for reading! I know this chapter raises a lot of questions, but most of them will be answered in the next chapter! Please leave a review if you can! :)**


	3. THREE

**A/N - Thanks to everyone following and reviewing this story! This chapter took a while to write, it's by no means perfect, because I am no scientist. I just use my crazy imagination, so please remember it is fiction...And if anyone has any suggestions to make it better, I would love to hear..**

* * *

Daryl woke groggy and disorientated in a strange room. As he slowly arose from the depths of oblivion, the feeling returned to his fingers and toes and he opened one eye to quickly scan the room. Something about the atmosphere surrounding him didn't seem right. It was alien and unfamiliar. He quickly realized he was not within his comfort zone. This was strange and in some ways frightening

 _What had happened? - How had he got here? - Where was here even? - And why was he there?_

So many thoughts scrambled themselves to the surface in his panic, that a thin film of perspiration began to form on his brow and upper lip. Fear was setting in and there was nothing he could do to stop it, no comforting words or thoughts, nothing reassuring came to his mind.

He sat up to discover he was naked apart from a thin hospital gown. The room was white and sterile looking, and smelled of faint disinfect with a table and chair to his right, a window behind that and a door leading on to what looked like a bathroom.

Before he could move any further he froze as he sensed a presence beside him. Glancing up to his left he saw a man in light blue medical scrubs was beside the bed staring at him.

"You're awake, welcome back, Mr Dixon," he said with a knowing smile. His accent was foreign, but Daryl couldn't quite place it.

"Where the hell am I? How d'you know my name?" Daryl growled, his eyes full of panic.

"Just take it easy, you've been out for a while." The man said calmly.

"Don't tell me what to damn do!" Daryl hissed groggily, his senses slowly alerting. "Who the hell are you people?" Daryl knew not to trust any other groups of survivors. There was something very peculiar about this place. It didn't feel like Woodbury, or Terminus, Alexandria even. It felt different, like a dream almost.

"You're in the recovery room, I've called for the doctor." The guy in the scrubs explained with another smile.

Before Daryl could respond the door to the room opened, and another man wearing dark blue scrubs came in, he was younger looking with dark olive skin and eyes and he was followed by a more formal looking older man in an official style shirt and trousers.

Daryl tried to move again, to feel something was taped on to his right shoulder. He gently patted it and felt a tingling on his back. He raised his left arm to find a tube attached to it. Down on his side, he found the upper area above his groin dressed in gauze and he felt a deep gash. Suddenly he had a queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach, but he was heavy in the bed, he couldn't get himself up. The second guy in scrubs must have read his mind. He grabbed a cloth and held it close to Daryl as he threw up.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, his accent was distinctively french.

Daryl just glared back at him, wiping his mouth.

The first man, presumably a nurse, moved around to remove the tube in Daryl's hand as the french doctor spoke. "My name is Dr Lavoie, and I will be here to carry out a few checks, before we can start to rehabilitate you…Mr Dixon."

"How do you know my name?" Daryl asked again, his eyes full of suspicion.

"Your friend told us, the guy you came in with," he replied coolly.

 _'Friend?' …'Aaron?'_

Daryl rubbed his head as slowly bit by bit it all started to come flooding back to him. He had been with Aaron, they had been out recruiting when they had run into trouble. The worst kind of trouble. Daryl had been bitten. He should be dead now!

Instead he was lying in some sort of hospital bed, surrounded by strangers.

"I want to see him!" Daryl demanded.

"Of course, when we've finished up here, you can see him."

Daryl's eyes narrowed, trying to figure out his next move.

"I know this must be very strange to you, Mr Dixon, but you need to relax and listen to what we have to say." This time it was the third guy speaking for the first time. His accent was British. "We're here to help you. You've survived one of the worst disasters the world has ever seen."

"How much do you remember?" The doctor asked, shining a light into Daryl's eyes to check his pupils.

Daryl was quiet, debating how to respond.

"Take your time."

"I got bit!" He eventually gave in and grunted brusquely, sounding confused as his eyes locked coldly with the doctor's. He wanted answers.

Suddenly Daryl remembered something. _The blonde woman!_ She had been by the river, then she had found him, she had saved him somehow.

"There was a blonde girl," he mumbled, his voice rough and gravelly as he repeated. "There was a blonde girl, she gave me something. What did she give me?"

It was all coming back to him quickly now, how amazing he had felt after she had made him drink a strange substance and given him a shot. Making all his pain go away.

The man in the shirt smiled knowingly, "That would have been Sienna. Lucky for you she's a rule breaker, and even more lucky for you she was out there that day. She saved your life."

Daryl furrowed his brow. _'Sienna,_ ' that was her name. Where was she?

He wanted to ask more, but he didn't know how to go about it. He had no idea where to start. So instead he just glared angrily at the men in front of him.

"Well the good news is your general health isn't too bad, considering. You're a little dehydrated and malnourished, but there are no signs of any infection or illness. You're a survivor. You've taken good care of yourself out there, you must have known what you were doing." The doctor commented.

"The even more good news is we've run some tests today and your blood is completely clear, you are no long infected with the WFN1 virus." He held up a piece of paper that appeared to be some kind of test results.

Daryl looked at him like he was speaking a completely alien language, too stunned to form any sort of coherent sentence.

"I appreciate this must be difficult for you, you've been out there a long time." The man in the military shirt spoke this time.

"I'm going to ask you a series of questions, and I need you to answer as accurately as you can."

Daryl remained stony faced, he knew he had no option but to sit still and cooperate. He had no idea who these people were, or what they could do. The smart thing was to try and figure that out before he made any kind of move. He couldn't over power them like this and there was no way he could run anywhere.

"Do you know what year it is?"

Daryl eyes were cold as he sat in silence, refusing to answer. He realized he didn't actually know exactly what year it was. It had been 2011 when the world had first started to turn to shit, so he would take a guess at around 2013 now.

"Do you remember who the president of the United States was?"

Again Daryl didn't respond. He had presumed the president had gone to hell along with the rest of the world. Either that or he was sitting in some nice, deep underground military bunker somewhere.

"Do you know who the British Prime Minister is?"

Daryl felt a deep scowl forming on his lips, as his mouth remained shut.

"Do you know what the WFN1 virus is? More commonly know as the Wildfire epidemic."

This time he had Daryl's attention. He shifted his gaze to make eye contact with the older man.

He vaguely remembered back at the CDC, Dr Jenner saying something about Wildfire, he had been communicating with Europe about working on a cure, a way to end all this.

"Do you realize where you are, Mr Dixon?"

Again Daryl remained silent. Because at that point in time he didn't have a fucking clue, about any of it.

"You're at a military base on the east coast, it's being used as a UN centre and the largest refuge centre in the country," he explained to an increasingly startled and overwhelmed Daryl.

Daryl shook his head slowly, this couldn't be happening.

"The year is 2014."

"Just under three years since the first reported case of Wildfire in North America. A deadly and fiercely aggressive virus. 99.9% of the population here in North America has been susceptible to hosting the virus, which rapidly adapts before the immune system can mount a defence."

The man speaking then paused, looking to his side to the doctor, who cleared his throat and spoke up next.

"Once in your body it never, ever leaves, because your immune system winds up treating the infection as a part of the immune system, and doesn't fight it off, so it lies there dormant until death. Basically, then it's activated, it converts dead human tissue into more of the virus and it causes the human body to shift in to a walking corpse, dead behind the eyes, it's only mission is to feed off the living, killing them with it's venom." The doctor explained slowly.

Daryl's creased eyes narrowed in confusion, as he finally spoke up. "You said 99% of the population in _North America?"_

"That's correct, there hasn't been a single reported case of anyone being infected outside North America."

Daryl was stunned, for a moment he couldn't breathe, he couldn't think, all he could do was stare, amazed, at the official looking men in front of him. He put his hand up to touch his face, "So lemme get this straight, you're telling me the rest of the world is unaffected?"

"Well I wouldn't say that exactly, this has been the worst disaster our world has ever seen, pretty much an entire continent, the most powerful continent in the world, has been wiped out. It's estimated only 5% are left…..But we're slowly fighting it and we're winning. However, we still have a long way to go." The guy in the shirt responded again.

"You're one of the lucky ones, Mr Dixon, _you're safe now!_ " He added seriously.

"So you can cure this thing? You cured me?" Daryl asked, his voice still rough and suspicious.

"There is no official licensed cure for WFN1, but there are things in trial stage at the moment that appear to be killing the virus before it's activated, removing it from it's host so they won't turn, and if given immediately after coming into contact with an affected person it can clean the blood and prevent death ….Hold your wrist up." The doctor instructed.

Slowly and reluctantly Daryl held his arm up. The doctor pulled out what looked like a pocket scanner from his pocket and held it to Daryl's wrist. It beeped immediately.

"What the hell?" Daryl exclaimed.

"You're clear." The doctor responded. "This chip signals you are free of the virus, all survivors that have been through the quarantine procedure have been fitted with one. We all have them."

In that one single moment, Daryl had never felt so overwhelmed in his whole life. He had no idea if they were telling him the truth. But he knew one thing for certain. He had been bitten by a walker, an infected rotting corpse, so by all accounts he should be one of them now.

But he wasn't.

He was still breathing, and his heart was still beating, he was still able to form coherent thoughts.

"I appreciate this is a lot for you to take in, so we'll leave you to get some quiet time. I just have one more question," The man in the shirt said.

 _"Who else were you out there with? How many?"_

Daryl froze, there was no damn way he was going to give them any information on his group. On Rick and the others, and the whereabouts of Alexandria. They knew he was with Aaron, and Daryl had no idea what else Aaron may have told them, but Daryl felt certain Aaron wouldn't have told them anything about their people. He had no idea who these people really were and what they could do, the safety of his group was his number one priority.

"So it was just you and one other? All this time?"

"Yeah." Daryl replied in a deep, serious voice. He knew that sounded pretty unbelievable. But until he had spoken to Aaron that was all he was prepared to say.

"Okay." The other man shrugged. "Well, someone will be along with some food for you shortly, then you can take a shower and get cleaned up if you wish, everything you should need will be in the bathroom. Then when you're ready we can take you out for a de-briefing, you can see your friend and we'll show you to your accommodation."

* * *

Once he was alone, Daryl looked down at the tray of food brought in for him. It was just some sort of meat, potatoes and vegetables. But it smelled good. Better than anything he had eaten for a long time. The growing pang of hunger in his stomach got the better of him as he wolfed it down quickly. He knew he needed to get his strength back, get himself together and find Aaron.

After he'd finished his food, still his hospital gown Daryl carefully stepped out of the bed and made his way across the room to the bathroom.

It was clean, white and fresh feeling. There was a towel laid out on small chair along with a small bottle of shower gel, a razor and some soap. To the side of that there were some clothes. They weren't the tattered ones he had been wearing before, but they were similar - dark coloured jeans, with a simple plain shirt.

He moved across to the sink, turning the tap on to discover clear running water. Whatever this place was or wasn't, one thing was for sure they had plenty of supplies. He put his hand under it to feel the cool refreshing water on his skin, before he splashed it across his face, giving him an instant hit of energy.

He looked up in to a small mirror above the sink to see his reflection staring back at him. He looked like shit. His eyes were lined and tired with puffy bags under them, his hair was matted and greasy and he had a bruising across his left cheek, probably another scar to add to his collection of many.

Turning towards the shower, he hesitated for a moment. It had taken him a few days to finally give in and shower when they had first arrived at Alexandria. Not because he hadn't wanted to feel clean, but because he hadn't felt entirely comfortable with the situation and therefore he hadn't been so quick to give in and fully embrace it as some of the other members of his group had been.

But here somehow it was different, none of that seemed to matter. Here he just wanted to feel clean, to wash away all the dirt and grime he'd collected on his battered body.

He cautiously switched the shower on to feel it running on his fingertips, before he removed his hospital gown to step fully under the warm gushing water. Standing naked he allowed it to bounce off his tired aching skin, enjoying the invigorating feeling of it soothing him as the water poured down, dripping by his side. His mind faded into dullness and everything was a foggy illusion. The sensation of the steaming water calming him, taking his mind to a more peaceful state. His head was swirling, and it felt like he was standing under an everlasting waterfall. He felt alive and more awake than he had done in years, he wished the feeling could last.

He took a moment to reflect on everything he had been through recently. _How the hell had he come to find himself here?_ The universe never failed to surprize him. Just when he had thought it was all over again, it threw him another curve ball. Daryl just couldn't wrap his head around it - how far he had come. Was there _really_ a chance that the world was starting to fight this darkness? Was the rest of the globe really not infected? How could that even be possible? _How could they ever come back now?_

Daryl was skeptical of any new people or situations, but he couldn't deny the facts, somehow he had been brought back from being on the brink of death to feeling better and healthier than ever. In a place that on the surface of it felt relatively safe and normal. Like things had been before.

* * *

Clean and showered and dressed in fresh clothes, Daryl remained silent and stony faced as he was later escorted down the corridor into a large, bright room. His face softened a little as the first thing he saw was Aaron stood in there. As he approached him, Daryl's face was unable to hide the emotion appearing on it as he spotted the familiar face of his relatively new friend.

Aaron immediately rushed up to Daryl and placed his hand on his arm as his eyes filled with concern. "You okay?" He asked, as the door closed and they were left alone.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Daryl mumbled as his hair hung over his face. He was hardly able to believe that Aaron was actually here too.

Daryl's eyes scanned Aaron's bruised and tired face as he remembered the savage the beating his friend had received right in front of Daryl's eyes.

"I'm fine." Aaron responded. "I've had time to recover. You, on the other hand, had me pretty worried there for a while."

"How long was I out for?' Daryl asked quickly.

"A few days, they said that can happen when you're fighting off the venom from a bite." Aaron replied calmly.

Daryl's eyes narrowed and he blinked several times, "They tell you I got bit?"

"Yeah." Aaron answered seriously, his eyes meeting Daryl's.

"This place, these people…we gotta.. we need to…" Daryl started, trailing off, looking to Aaron for answers. Because right now he knew he had no plan, Daryl was out of his depth.

"We need to hear what they have to say properly." Aaron said firmly. "We can decide what to do from there." He added in a low voice.

Daryl just nodded slowly in agreement.

"Who the hell are they? They're saying the rest of the world aint infected that they're trying to fight this, they've got a cure, they cured me somehow," Daryl said in a hurried and panicked voice, so quiet it was almost whisper.

Aaron didn't respond straight away, his face was unreadable.

Eventually he said, "I think we need to believe them. They were talking about this guy heading the aid operation up, Walter Kauzya. I knew him from before when I was working as an aid worker in the NGO in Africa, he's a senior UN official... I think this is it, Daryl. The real deal. I think this could just be the beginning of the end to all this…

 **A/N - Thanks so much for reading! This chapter is setting the scene and the story will really get going over the next few chapters. Please leave a review if you can :-) Next chapter the story really begins to start for Daryl!**


	4. FOUR

**A/N - Thanks to everyone reviewing and following.**

"Okay, listen up, what I am about to tell you is important." It was the official looking man in the shirt again, the same one that had spoken to Daryl in his hospital room. His name Daryl had discovered was Jim Luther.

He had de-briefed Daryl after he had left Aaron earlier. He had questioned him some more on how he had managed to survive this long, where he had been staying, and what exactly had happened to him since the government had lost control and the infected had taken over.

Daryl had co-operated as much as he was prepared to. Answering briefly, he had told him just that he had been surviving with his brother, that they had been living in the area around Northern Georgia for the most part. When his brother had been killed, Daryl had shot him in the head to prevent him from turning and had then made his way North in search of other survivors. That was where he had run into Aaron.

He knew that Aaron had told a similar version, no mention whatsoever of Alexandria or any of their other people there. Not yet.

...

Daryl and Aaron were now in a room with several other survivors, a group that had come in around the same time as them. Three men and two women. They looked weary but pretty normal. A closer look however revealed that embedded deep within their eyes was the familiar haunted trace of death and devastation. They had a story to tell, just like every other survivor that had cheated death and made it this far now.

...

"I'm not going to pretend to know what you have been through out there. What it was like…But what I can tell you, is that the official estimate is just 5% of your country's population has so far managed to avoid turning. We know very little about, the ' _WFN1 infection',_ except it is activated upon death, and that it is seemingly lying dormant in everyone that had been living on this continent during the summer of 2010... You people here beat the odds. _You are survivors!_ You made it this far alive, and that has to mean something, don't you think?"

Daryl glared at the man talking with narrowing, suspicious eyes. He was giving him a chance because Aaron had asked him to. But he didn't have to trust him yet - or like him.

"There was no warning before this infection started, one day things were normal - the next the dead were supposedly getting up and attacking anyone they came into contact with! The world had never seen anything like it. In 2011 a state of global, worldwide emergency was declared. Scientists were working around the clock to try and work out what had happened. What had caused this devastation and what could be done to stop this deadly, aggressive virus. For a while all telecommunications across the atlantic were down. But now they're back up again and there _is_ hope again."

Daryl breathed in and out heavily, hearing this was difficult to wrap his head around.

"Let me show you something," the other man said, gesturing to a screen to his right, where a colourful map of the United Sates appeared with areas marked in either red, amber or green.

"All the zones in green are now declared safe. Which as you can see is a lot of the east coast, then along the west coast parts of California excluding major cities. Then Oregon and Utah, Southern Texas and New Mexico. These zones are free from the infected, we have cleared them out, they are also for the most part free from rebel groups too." He paused, allowing Daryl and the rest of the room to take in what he was saying.

Daryl's eyes scanned the map to see the scatters of green dotted around the country. He then turned his attention to the other colours.

"The amber zones are still not completely safe, there are still 'infected' in these areas, but we are fighting them and winning. …The red zones, however, are infected zones, which include all major cities still. These zones are extremely dangerous, homes to herds of the infected, little wildlife is able to survive in these places, and the only living humans located in these areas are mostly savage and feral, forming tribal like communities. To enter these zones at present is strongly advised against unless travelling with armed escorts, anything else would be suicide."

Daryl was unable to stop his eyes from sliding across to meet Aaron's at that point, exchanging a look of deep concern. The whole area from Georgia up to Virginia was bright red. According to this, Alexandria was slap bang in the middle of one of the most dangerous zones in the country.

"I appreciate this is difficult for you all, but you must remember you people here today are the lucky ones. You have survived the infection so far and are here now able to help in the operation to take this country back and piece the world back together." The look on his face was serious as he paused further to gauge the reactions of Daryl, Aaron and the other survivors.

"What if we don't wanna stay here?" Daryl grunted, causing all eyes in the room to suddenly turn to him.

The older man didn't respond at first.

Daryl looked to the gun strapped to his belt, in that split second he knew he could possibly overpower him to take it if he set his mind to it. But then there were the armed guards on the doors. He could take them too, _if_ he got lucky. His mind quickly running through the possibilities of an escape. But he knew more likely than not, he would end up dead if he tried anything right now, so he sat tight, and stony faced still.

Luther eventually shrugged, "No-one is held prisoner here. You have three options. Stay and help us, because the skills you will have acquired out there will be of great value to this operation. Stay and simply claim refugee status, you will have full access to commissaries for food, water, medicine and shelter for as long as you need it, in return for basic work. Or go back out there - but if you do, know this, you're on your own!"

Daryl was a little taken aback. He hadn't quite been expecting him to say that. "Okay," he simply grunted back at him.

"Why would you wanna go back out there?" A woman from the other group of survivors spoke up. "Have you not seen enough? We've all got a chance here, a chance to live again."

Daryl turned to face her, the look in her dark eyes reminded him of Michonne, and he thought about his friend from the prison and what she would be saying if she was here right now. She would probably be persuading them to give it a chance, to not dismiss it so quickly, because if there was any slight chance of light they should take it.

He then thought about what Rick would be saying. Daryl felt sure that if Rick were here now he wouldn't be so quick to trust, and he would be doing everything in his power to form a plan and return to his people.

"No-one is expecting any official roles to be taken yet, settle in first, catch your breath. Think about it. Then we'll talk again," Luther said seriously.

* * *

Stepping outside after the briefing had finished, Daryl was instantly met with a sharp boost of bright sunshine. He stopped for a moment to look around, enjoying the feeling of the fresh air warming his skin and filling his lungs.

The colours around him looked brighter than ever before. The vibrant greens of the grass and trees; the blues in the sky and the sparkling turquoise of the ocean just visible on the horizon, were inspiring and mesmerising.

From where he was stood next to Aaron there were a lot of people buzzing around. Mainly soldiers and others with official looking badges - but there were also some that looked like civilians. Other survivors just like him and Aaron, and no-one seemed to take the slightest bit of notice of them being there.

There were army vehicles parked around too, lots of things being unloaded and loaded on to them, and also in the distance Daryl could make out a helicopter launch pad, the noise from it travelling over into the surrounding air around them.

It was unlike anything Daryl had ever experienced before. It was busy, purposeful and official feeling - completely out of place in the _'bleak_ ' shrinking world Daryl had grown so used to now.

...

"I'm here to take you guys to your accommodation," a tall, lanky guy suddenly appeared and said. "You've passed quarantine, so you're in the southern refugee building for now," he said, twitching his mouth up into a sort of smile. He was young, probably not long out of his teens, with jet black hair, pale skin and a pretty boy face.

"I'm Aaron and this is Daryl," Aaron said, as they turned to follow him.

"My name's Kyle," he explained as they walked. "But everyone calls me sniper kid," he added with a proud grin.

Daryl glanced at him, raising an eyebrow, to see he had a sniper rifle swung over his shoulder.

"I'm the best shot you'll find," Kyle exclaimed proudly.

"That right," Daryl mumbled.

"Taken out more of the infected than anyone else I've ever met," he continued. His accent was American. He must have survived the outbreak somehow too Daryl thought curiously, his eyes still subtly positioned in the younger guy's direction.

"You been here long?" Aaron asked him politely, as they stopped at an entrance to a large building.

"A few months, I lost all my family and then I got separated from my group. We were travelling west when they picked me up and brought me in. Took a while to get used to it here, but once you're in there's no going back," he said. "I work here now, welcoming new people and sometimes out in the field too."

Aaron nodded as Daryl remained silent.

"Here we are," Kyle said as he opened one of the first doors they came to after entering the building. "It's pretty basic, but you got a twin bedroom, living area, kitchen," he explained.

Daryl looked around, it was clean and white with minimal furniture, like most things around here. A contrast to the big fancy houses of Alexandria, and the bleak depressing cells of the prison.

"You have food cards too," Kyle explained further. "They mean you can claim food and anything else you need from one of the food centres."

"Thank you," Aaron replied politely again.

"So, I'll leave you guys to settle in, but if you need anything you can usually find me in the Lounge."

"The what?" Aaron questioned, raising his brow.

"It's a bar and restaurant, unbelievable I know, but there is _actually_ a bar here. Serves real beer too. I suggest you guys come over later, mingle with some of the other survivors and workers. Would do you good."

* * *

Daryl sunk down on to one of the beds letting out a deep sigh, allowing his head to flop back onto the pillow as he threw his arms above his head.

It was now just him and Aaron, Kyle having left them to it.

"We gotta get out of this place and back to the others," Daryl exclaimed.

Aaron didn't say anything, instead he went to perch on the edge of his bed. Wincing slightly, he grabbed his side.

"You okay, man?" Daryl immediately asked, sitting up to face his friend.

"Uh-huh, just bruising," Aaron dismissed.

"I say we take what we can find, then head out of here before dark," Daryl continued, trying to form a plan.

"I don't think we should be too hasty," Aaron suddenly spoke up, holding up his hand. "We have nothing but the clothes on our backs. Alexandria must be at least 600 miles away…We have no transport, no weapons, it would take us days. _If_ we made it back at all."

"Then we take weapons and transport, we already know we can get food," Daryl said loudly, his eyes searching Aaron's face. His second guessing was making Daryl uneasy. He had presumed Aaron would have been as keen as he was to make a break for freedom and back to their people.

"I know you don't trust them here, but.." Aaron started.

"You can't be seriously considering we just stay here? Those are our people back there," Daryl exclaimed, interrupting Aaron.

"I'm not saying that," Aaron responded. "I want to get back to Alexandria just as much as you do. My whole life is there now, _Eric_ is there."

Daryl peered back at him through his long, freshly washed hair and confusion flashed across his lined face.

"Which is why I want to get back to him, _alive_ ," Aaron continued. "So, I say we sit tight here for a bit, suss it out properly. This place isn't bad, it's not an enemy camp, there is law and order here."

"Aint no law and order anywhere now," Daryl said roughly.

"But there could be again," Aaron responded. Before clutching his head and wincing again.

"You sure you're okay?" Daryl asked, more concern appearing in his eyes. "You want some water or summat?"

Aaron waved his hand, trying to put a brave face on his suffering.

"You saying we should tell em…about Alexandria?" Daryl carried on, his tone low and gruff as his hair hung into his eyes.

"No, I'm saying we find out exactly what we need to know, we get stronger and we go back to Alexandria fully prepared to inform our people about what this place actually is. Whether we declare their existence here, and seek proper help from people that know what they're doing. A government, aid agencies, military.."

Daryl shook his head. He felt even more confused. Just a few days ago, Alexandria was the place they had all considered their one safe haven, their best shot. Now it looked like the flaws in that were being ripped fully open and exposed, there was a bigger world out there, one that could stamp them out in a second. But, no matter what, they were still his people back there and with them was where Daryl felt he belonged.

Daryl also knew, although he was feeling pretty strong, by the looks of Aaron he still had some way to go. He was too weak to make the dangerous trip back yet and Daryl couldn't leave him here.

He placed his hands on his head and sighed again, Daryl was aware that on some level Aaron _was_ talking some sense. But Daryl's head was still telling him, first chance they got they should leave and go back to their people.

But something else... something deeper inside him, an unexplainable feeling, was telling Daryl they should stay on here for a bit. Because it might just lead to something good.

"We'll get back to our people, Daryl. We just gotta be patient," Aaron said calmly. "We're here now, so we might as well make the most of it."

Daryl sat facing him still, in silent agreement now.

Aaron quirked a brow and his lips curled up into a small amused smile, "And y'know what I could really do with right now?.. A cold beer!"

* * *

Daryl entered the bar with caution. He was instantly on the defence, he didn't like the fact he was unarmed. Without his crossbow, knife and gun, he felt vulnerable.

To his surprize though, no-one seemed to bat an eyelid to their presence again.

It was dark, warm and not the most glamorous of places, but it was quite clearly a lively bar. There were two pool tables in the corner, and some background music playing from somewhere, some old rock band he couldn't quite place. But Daryl didn't care, it had been so long since he'd heard music played out loud in public, he'd take anything.

There was a buzz of people talking loudly, drinking and laughing. It was pretty strange to see. There were all sorts of different accents: American, British, French, German, Australian. A lot of people again looked like they could be official, military possibly, aid workers maybe too - then a lot just looked like him and Aaron again, random survivors lucky enough to have made it this far. They blended in perfectly.

To his amazement the atmosphere felt alive here. The air of death and sadness that seemed to permanently frequent the world now was still there lingering in the background. But it was overpowered by something stronger, something that could resemble a hope of sorts. Everyone carrying on as normal. Ignoring the fact that the dead were rising from their graves.

Daryl had to admit he was pleasantly surprised, if not a little bewildered.

Following Aaron and sinking into a stool at the edge of the bar. He caught the eye of the guy serving.

"You got your food cards?" The barman asked casually.

Daryl fumbled in his pocket for the swipe card given to him earlier, he had no idea how it worked but he showed it to the guy, who nodded. Returning with two bottles of beer.

Aaron held his bottle up to touch Daryl's, "To survival," he said, meeting his eye.

Daryl nodded, forcing a smile, he looked back to his bottle hardly able to believe it was real. Just thinking about alcohol made Daryl's fingers tingle right up to his knuckles. Even before it touched his lips he got a taste of it, as if his brain couldn't wait for the fuzz of intoxication to begin.

He wrapped his hand around the cool glass and brought it to his mouth, chugging it back. He placed it back down on the bar and it felt almost as though he had travelled back in time. Back to a time when he was just some redneck asshole again, drinking at a bar. He had spent most of his life chasing his brother around places like this; drinking, smoking, talking shit. Being a nobody in the time before the change.

Daryl's eyes then instinctively flickered to a large screen attached to the wall. Displaying what looked like 24 hour BBC world news. The date - _Friday the 3rd July 2014._ The headlines _\- World health organisation has declared they are a step closer to discovering the vaccine for WFN1…. UN has deployed more troops to the east coast of America..._

 _'_ What the fuck?'

It was a sharp reminder to Daryl of everything he had been through in the last few years. He was far from being the loser he had been in the days before the world fell into darkness. The guy who followed his brother around with no purpose. He was a different person now, and the world was a very different place too. He'd done things, seen things he'd never have thought imaginable, and now there were headlines about it on the BBC World News!

He looked sideways to where Aaron's eyes were glued to the screen too.

"We'll get back to them," Aaron said quietly, nodding seriously. "As soon as we can, we'll get back to them." His eyes locked with Daryl's again, referring back to their earlier conversation. They both knew their people needed to see this too. They just had to make sure it was safe for them to do that first.

Daryl took another sip of his beer and his eyes turned to half watch the door to the building in front of him opening and closing with random people coming and going, the sight of them turning into a blur. Then something caught his eye. A tall, muscular looking guy with dark brown hair and a chiseled jaw wandered in and directly behind him, Daryl couldn't fail to spot her straight away. Looking at her face everything seemed to stop for a moment! _It was the blonde girl that had saved his life days before._

Big, pretty blue eyes and long, straight blonde hair. He remembered her instantly. Dressed in light blue jeans and a peach coloured tank top showing off her curvy, sun-kissed figure, she could have graced any magazine cover or billboard. But there was a shyness to her, hesitation in her body movements, as she looked straight ahead, not smiling, but not frowning either.

Daryl wondered what she was thinking about as he stole another small glance in her direction, before he looked away.

She was here, she was real.

He had thought for a while maybe he had imagined her. If he could have dreamed up his perfect looking woman to appear right before he died, it would pretty much have been her. He'd always had a thing for attractive blondes, not the brassy, loud types his brother had always forced on him. The more natural, quiet and interesting looking ones. The ones that had a hint of empathy and kindness behind their eyes and an air of mystery.

Not that Daryl would ever have let on those kind of thoughts to anyone else, especially his brother Merle. Instead, before the outbreak Daryl knew he'd never get the kind of woman he wanted and even if he did, getting close and physical intimacy had never been his thing, so he pretty much just avoided having much contact with females at all - acting aloof and distant if any tried to get too close. That was unless he had no choice. Unless he had something to prove to his brother or father.

Now, being no different, Daryl's fears and insecurities kicked in. He kept his eyes down, unable to halt an intense feeling he had no control over spreading across him. He hadn't felt like this for a very long time. Stirred by the sight of a woman. He was intrigued by her. Who was she? Why had she helped him? What was her deal?

Hiding behind his hair, his gaze slid over in her direction again, to see she was stood closely to the man she'd come in with, he was almost touching her as he spoke in to her ear. He was probably her boyfriend, Daryl thought scowling. Another damn romance. He despised that kind of bull-shit. There was no time for that sort of crap in the world, especially now.

Daryl's eyes were then drawn to something else. Down by her ankles, close to her brown boots was light grey fur. It was the same dog he had met in the woods too. He had almost forgotten about the dog that had appeared that night with everything else that had been on his mind over the past few days.

Another guy then approached the blonde. He had a camera around his neck and he was showing her something on it. They looked drawn into a deep conversation. Daryl was pretty certain it was the same guy that had freed him from the tree.

This roused Daryl's curiosity even more. What were they doing here?

The original guy she had come in with had left her side now and was deep in conversation with another woman, a petite brunette, he was leaning down in to her ear this time, with his hand on her waist suggestively. Leaving the blonde stood silently next to the camera guy.

Daryl experienced a powerful urge to go over and speak to her then at that moment, but his body remained glued to his stool. So, instead he carried on pretending not to notice her presence, continuing to sip his beer with slightly shaking fingers.

The guy with the camera looked over in Daryl's direction, and before Daryl knew it he and the blonde were directly in front of both Daryl and Aaron.

"Good to see you again," the camera guy said, grinning. He had longish, dark hair swept off his face and was dressed in a casual, fashionable shirt and jeans.

"You too," Aaron responded sincerely. "I'm glad you're here, because I didn't get the chance to thank you properly for what you did. I owe you and your friend everything." He held out his hand in a warm gesture to the younger man.

"Nah, no problem, man. I'm just glad to see you up and about," he replied, taking Aaron's hand.

"This is Louie," Aaron explained to Daryl. "He and his friend saved my life."

"And this is…" he turned to the blonde.

"Sienna," she replied, and a shy smile played on her lips. Her blue eyes turning in Daryl's direction.

Daryl felt his face flush and the hairs on his neck stand. Something jolted in his stomach. He didn't know what that feeling was, he thought it was a bizarre sensation, but it wasn't unpleasant - and in that moment Daryl knew that if he spoke, his words would fumble and he wouldn't be able to make his usual witty remarks. Right there and then he was at a loss for everything; no words, no breath, no thoughts. This girl had saved his life.

"How are you feeling, Daryl?" she asked softly.

Daryl remained at a loss for anything to say, all he could do was stare. His eye's blinking, the feeling he had first experienced earlier upon seeing her again was intensifying. He still didn't quite understand it, and he might not be prepared to admit it fully to himself yet, but he knew it felt good.

"How d'ya know my name?" he eventually asked, his voice gruff.

"Because you told me," she replied, blinking once and smiling.

Looking back at her bright blue eyes, framed by long, perfectly rounded eyelashes, was like being let into the warmth after a lifetime of winter. She was mesmerising to Daryl in every way and he knew he wanted to find out more...

 **A/N - Thanks for reading, please leave a review :)**


	5. FIVE

**A/N - Thanks SO much to everyone reading and reviewing this story.**

 **I just wanted to make a few things clear about it again.** **On the show it has been established that:**

 **1) Everyone is already infected with the virus and it is activated upon death, so however you die (apart from a shot to the head) you will turn, even if you just die in your sleep. Dr Jenner whispered that in Rick's ear in season 1 as they left the CDC. How everyone was infected he didn't know, but he said he had been working on a cure with France, until he lost contact.**

 **2) Being bitten by a walker/zombie does not turn you into one straight away. The venom in the bite eventually kills you, unless stopped (Hershal). In some cases (Jim, Bob) it can take a while to kill you too, then you turn once you are dead.**

 **In this story it follows those basic principles, and there is NO cure for zombies. Once you have died and turned no-one can ever come back to life. But there is (potentially) a cure being worked on for the virus inside you that turns you. So once dead you stay dead and don't turn and society can start to be rebuilt. I have seen this idea discussed and debated by fans many times over the internet.**

 **Also, outside of Georgia for the first four seasons none of the group had any idea what else was happening in the world, this story sheds some light on that. Lastly, this is fiction and just my crazy AU, and I think in a world where there are zombies, anything goes!**

 **Thanks again for reading and commenting, please keep leaving your thoughts and ideas. I really hope you enjoy the build up of this story.**

 **Nx**

* * *

Daryl took another chug of his beer. Now that he was next to her it was far easier to observe the blonde woman, Sienna, discreetly. Her face was perfectly symmetrical and her shiny blonde hair was falling delicately over her shoulders and down her back as she looked at him and gave him a nervous smile.

"You remember what happened out there?" She asked, breaking the awkward silence growing between them, the softness in her voice taking him right back to that eventful night by the tree.

He swallowed, and said in a low, slightly rough voice, "I remember you were there, with ya dog. Wouldn't leave. We went through the woods."

"That's right," she replied. "You were in a pretty bad way, it's good to see you back on your feet."

He looked away from her. He knew he was meant to thank her or some shit. But he just couldn't. Not right now. He suddenly felt an annoyance that she'd had to save him and he had been so vulnerable, and he was staring at her right now like some idiot. She was just a pretty face, nothing else. He was grateful for what she had done. But he didn't know her, and she meant nothing to him.

 _Or, that was what he was trying so hard to to tell himself..._ as he scowled and avoided her friendly gaze.

As if sensing his uncomfortableness, she averted her attention from him and back to her friend and Aaron. Breaking into a smile at something they said to her, that Daryl couldn't quite make out.

Daryl moved his head to flick his hair from his eyes, watching as they chatted and he remained silent.

He wanted to join in too, but his mouth was too dry, all he could do was observe quietly from behind his beer. More people were coming and going and before he knew it moments later, Louie had gone and it was just himself, Aaron and Sienna left by the bar.

Daryl looked to Aaron, his friend looked more at ease, completely comfortable in his own skin, and at that moment Daryl wished he had Aaron's social skills.

"So, can I ask what you're doing out here? You're not military?" Aaron asked, looking at Sienna, his eyes widening curiously.

Daryl twitched, awaiting her response too, his gaze shifting to focus on her fully again.

"Do I look like military?" She replied with an amused smile, raising a brow.

Aaron smiled too, shaking his head. "You're an aid worker?" He guessed again.

"Ah, kind of. I guess we all end up as aid workers sooner or later. But, officially I'm a writer. I'm over here as part of the media," she explained.

"You're a journalist? You work for a publication?" Aaron questioned some more, his face interested and impressed. Looking from her to Daryl to exchange a look.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. I'm more freelance these days, I prefer to work for a number of different media outlets."

"That's why you're here? Reporting on what is happening, the fall of the new world. People still do that?" Aaron asked, a little amazement crossing his face, as he exchanged another look with Daryl.

"That's why I came here. It might not seem like it to you now, but it's a vitally important job and it's always been my passion to tell a story - to tell it how it _really_ is. No bull-shit." Her voice was still soft but there was emotion in it. It stirred something in Daryl, took control of his thinking.

Her eyes glanced in Daryl's direction for a moment and the look in his eye was enough to let her know he was listening and interested too.

"My sister was a journalist, you remind me a bit of her. She worked for the 'New York Times'," Aaron said thoughtfully.

No-one spoke for a moment, a sadness lingering. The past tense in Aaron's words together with the glistening sadness forming in his eyes, said it all. They all knew it was the norm these days for people to be lost. It would be unusual to expect anything else.

"She died doing what she loved," Aaron added, swigging back the last dribble of his beer.

Sienna looked back to him with kind eyes, "I would have liked to have met her."

Aaron nodded with a weak smile. Suddenly coughing and grabbing his side.

"Can I get you something else?" she asked, concerned.

"Nah, I think the only thing I need to do right now is rest," he replied, starting to stand up.

Daryl looked over to him, preparing himself to move too, concern crossing his face.

As if reading his friend's mind, Aaron moved over to pat him on the arm. "Stay," he said quietly. "Finish your drink, I'll be fine."

"You sure?" Daryl asked in a low, uncertain tone.

Aaron nodded once. His deep blue eyes showing he meant it. "Yeah, kind of want to be on my own for a bit, if you know what I mean," he replied quietly.

Daryl nodded in agreement, he understood that feeling. He wasn't quite sure why, but he didn't feel such an urgent need to stick by his friend's side here anymore. He had Aaron's back, like any of his group he'd always have their back. But maybe Daryl was starting to see that there wasn't the obvious and immediate danger here that there had been in other new places they had found on their travels.

Watching Aaron leave the bar Daryl shifted awkwardly, unsure of what to say next, he was very conscious of the woman next to him.

She slid into the stool beside him.

"Have a drink with me?" she suggested, lightening the mood a little, she looked to the guy behind the bar as he brought over a bottle of something chilled in an ice bucket and some glasses.

"I think we should drink to life." She lifted the bottle out and poured it into two glasses before Daryl could object. "The world may have gone to hell, but we can still drink," she smiled and said, raising a glass.

Daryl's creased eyes narrowed as he looked at her like she was slightly insane.

'How the hell did she get sparkling wine out here?'

She passed him a glass and he took it slowly, staring down at it silently. He then looked from the crisp, inviting looking liquid in the glass back to the sparkling, sapphire blue eyes of the girl holding it. Her flawless skin was lightly sun-kissed and her eyes seemed to have gotten brighter suddenly. She brushed a stray strand of her light blonde hair behind her ear, gently brushing her high cheekbones as she did so.

"Thanks," he said quietly. He thought about making some wise crack, but decided against it.

He put it to his lips. He hadn't tasted sparkling wine for a long time and he had presumed he would never taste it again. It was nice - refreshing, fruity and delicate tasting with a subtle sweetness to it, reminding him straightaway of how good it was. Despite, how in his old life he would have pretended to have despised such pretentious beverages, right now just a small sip was really hitting the spot.

He watched her put her glass to her mouth too. Her perfectly-shaped lips were a beautiful, rose bud pink. He found himself fascinated by the sight of them pressed against the cool glass in her hand.

Clasping the stem of his own glass between his fingers, Daryl thought how laughable it was that he was sat drinking some fancy 'fucking' wine that he wouldn't have been seen dead drinking years before, with a girl that looked like her, when everything in the world around him had pretty much gone to total shit and he had spent the last two years of his life surviving under the worst possible circumstances, cheating death each and every day.

After all that, how the hell had he ended up here?

...

With the buzz of the alcohol spurring him on a little, he cleared his throat to make a comment, his dark blue eyes studying her curiously as he moved his head to adjust the hair out of his eyes, "Why d'you save me?" he asked gruffly.

She turned to look at him fully, and he noticed for the first time the sprinkling of freckles across her nose, she really was so fucking pretty.

"Because you were worth saving," she simply replied, unfazed by the gruffness in his voice. She blinked, fluttering her long thick lashes. "Good people are hard to come by these days."

"How d'you know I'm good?" He asked even more gruffly. He put his glass back up to his parched lips and sipped, his gaze still completely fixed on her.

"Same way you know that I am," she shrugged and responded, meeting his eye straight on.

Daryl felt an alien flutter hit him with the way she was looking at him, and for a moment he just stared at her.

"You shouldn't be trusting no-one these days," he mumbled.

"I know," she responded, raising a perfectly sculpted brow. "But sometimes people surprise you."

He shifted uncomfortably. There were so many more questions he had for her, he had no idea where to start. He wanted to ask her why him? Why had she been there at that exact moment? Why had she risked her life to save his?

But he couldn't find the words for any of that. Instead, he simply scowled and snapped roughly, "Well, I never asked you to save me, it was a damn stupid thing to do. Playing at being a superhero like like that. You any idea what it's really like out there?" He knew that had been a harsh thing to say and he felt like shit slightly, as he noticed the glazed look appearing in her wide eyes. She wasn't used to pricks like him. Especially after she had gone out of her way to save him.

She looked away from him for a second, and her face suddenly became unreadable, before she let out a small laugh.

Daryl felt himself relax just a little, as she then shrugged and turned back to him and retorted. "Well, we're both still here aren't we? And, I can assure you, I'm certainly no super-hero!"

Daryl's eyes narrowed as he tried to work her out, and a silence fell between them again.

...

"So, you're a writer? You gonna write a story bout me?" He eventually asked, breaking the tense silence as the alcohol loosened him up a little.

"Maybe. You think anyone would want to read it?" She responded, with a twinkle in her eye.

He jerkily shrugged his head, his lips twitching into a faint smirk. Before his eyes fell downwards to catch sight of the grey fur of the dog still sat beside her. "Nice dog," he remarked, changing the subject.

"Thanks," she replied.

"What's his name?"

" _Her_ name is Suki," she replied with a little smirk.

"She yours? You find her over here?" Daryl asked curiously.

"Yep, but I didn't find her, she found me. She was a young military working dog but she was about to be discharged for breaking the rules. So, I saved her and now she's with me. We have an understanding, a bond. She brought me back to life after I saved hers. She'll never forget that, she appreciates being given a second chance….Unlike _some_ people who can be a real jerk about it." She added with wide eyes as she stared at him and quirked her brows again.

Daryl shuffled in his seat, something about her was making him twitch inside. It made him feel both uncomfortable and at ease at the same time.

"Thought I was going to die," he confessed profoundly in response to her last statement about him.

He sipped his drink quietly, looking down at the bar waiting for her to respond.

"Well, you didn't... Seems the universe has other plans for you. Your story isn't over yet." She smiled and said.

For a second Daryl couldn't take his eyes off her, as her words bounced around his head. _His story wasn't told!_

"It wasn't just the two of you out there was it?" She suddenly asked seriously. "I know you told them it was. But to have survived as long as you did, people need people. There had to have been more of you."

He didn't respond.

"It's okay, I know you don't trust me or this place yet, and I can't even begin to imagine what you went through out there. The things you had to do to survive, the bad people you must have encountered. But all I am saying is this, _just give us a chance._ Your people wouldn't be in any kind of danger, there is help for them here."

Daryl pursed his lips. There was just something about her that was making him want to open up. That, together with the warm glow from the alcohol was tempting him to drop his guard. But Daryl also knew to keep the walls up, it was the only way to survive. So, he averted her questioning gaze.

"You want to get back to them don't you? You're going to leave here on your own?" She questioned.

His eyes flickered back to lock with hers for an unspoken moment.

She broke the eye contact and looked away. But he knew his silence had confirmed her suspicions.

"It doesn't have to be like that," she said. "You can ask for help."

The air around them quickly became tense again. A sick feeling hit Daryl's stomach. He knew that he did need to get back to his people and he couldn't risk their safety for anything.

Sensing his slight anxiety, Sienna changed the subject and glanced at the now empty bottle, "We should take a walk down to the beach, get some air."

"Come on Suks," she said to her dog. She stood up, glancing at Daryl she gestured with her head towards the door, "You coming?"

Daryl stood up and shrugged, "Aint got nothin else to do."

* * *

The night air was fresh with a gentle breeze from the tide, together with the smell of the ocean. Daryl walked along beside Sienna with Suki the dog trotting by their side. Moon-bathed stones paved the path as the sound of the crashing waves grew closer. The walk to the beach felt so surreal to Daryl, like he was dreaming and any minute he might wake up.

The salt air lay thickly on his tongue and filled his nostrils as they reached the edge of the sand and he watched Suki suddenly bound off into the darkness, the sky pitch black apart from the sprinkling of a few stars.

Daryl wasn't quite sure why, but at that moment he felt as though on some level it was the start of a journey, not the end of one.

"This way," Sienna motioned as a crowd of people came into view, grouped around a lit bonfire. There must have been at least twenty people there if not more.

The sand felt soft beneath their feet as they walked across it. The ink black waves coming into view in the distance, crashing into one another as slivers of moonlight danced across them.

A few people acknowledged Sienna as they approached the group and perched down on the sand and rocks amongst the hum of conversation and chilled atmosphere of people drinking and smoking. There was a man playing the guitar and singing. It was strangely comforting to Daryl. No-one cared why he was there, he was just there, like they were.

"Y'got a smoke?" he asked Sienna in a low voice, expecting her to say no.

Instead she fumbled around in the pocket of her jeans and pulled out a crumpled pack of cigarettes to hand to him, along with a small strip of matches.

"Thanks," he replied, surprised.

"What?"

"Nothin," he shrugged, flicking the hair from his eyes as he put one to his dry lips and set to work striking a match. "Just didn't have ya down for a smoker s'all," he mumbled with the cigarette in his mouth.

"I'm not. It's a disgusting habit," she quipped back.

He cursed under his breath as the wind stalled his attempts to light the small match in his fingers, before it eventually glowed enough for him to light up. He took a long satisfying draw before blowing the smoke back out into the clear night air. "Can think of worse ones," he smirked back at her.

She smiled too.

"Hell's this shit?" he suddenly asked as inhaling more smoke he was hit with the sensation of something overpowering and minty hitting the back of his throat.

"They're menthol, and _you're_ welcome." She replied sarcastically. "I keep them for emergency's only."

"Didn't think you could still get this stuff," he responded, thinking how the last time he'd had a menthol cigarette must have been when he was still a kid and he'd stole one off his ma.

"You can get anything if you look hard enough," she replied with a knowing smile.

He nodded in agreement. Blowing out more smoke and leaning back, glancing into the vast horizon over the moonlit ocean, feeling more relaxed and at peace than he had done in a long time.

Looking around it was clear that everyone there had a story to tell. No matter where they had come from they had all been through hell. It was a different world now to the one before the change. To still be alive, they must have all been to bad places and seen dark things. At one time Daryl would have felt alien to the majority of people around him, like they would have judged him, but he could see now that they were all just the same. They had all been living through hell, and somehow been lucky enough to survive it this far. Who they had been before was irrelevant.

"This must be really strange to you," Sienna said, hugging her knees to her chest. "But everyone here is the same. No matter where they've come from, what they've seen, they realise they have been given a second chance. Most people here have been brought in from infected zones. They've needed help and refuge."

Daryl peered at her through slanted eyes, his curiosity was suddenly roused again as he remembered how he had felt back in the woods.

"Back in the woods, you gave me something, what d'ya give me? What did it do?"

She was silent for a moment, before she said.

"I don't know exactly, it was developed in a French laboratory. It appears to clean the blood and kill any virus it comes into contact with, including the WFN1 virus. People that have been given it have been testing negative for the virus and the few that have died, haven't turned upon death. It's use is still not public knowledge."

Daryl nodded, satisfied by her explanation for now.

"So, you really don't have any of this in Europe?" he questioned, lowering his smoke to give her his full attention.

"Oh there's devastation and chaos there for sure. Before the borders and ports were closed down, there was mass panic. I remember the first reported case of someone dying and coming back to life and attacking people, it was an American tourist in London. People thought it was the end of the world. Then when it started happening more and more, the government lost control, there was rioting, looting and mass hysteria, all trade ceased. But once they figured out it was just this continent that was infected with it, the government slowly took back control. Public services started up again, trade commenced and the european parliament and united nations started to work together to try and stop this thing.'

Daryl looked at her dark silhouette as he tried to take it all in still.

"People back in Europe have no idea what it's really like here though. The media has been toned down. I don't think they want to panic people again. They just know there is a potentially deadly virus called WFN1 that has been spreading out of control and causing telecommunications to go down whilst the government deals with it."

"There a lot of reporters here?" Daryl asked, his voice hushed.

"Not now. There were. At first the whole of the world's media wanted to come over. We thought there would be devastation, but nothing that hadn't been seen before in various different war-zones and disaster areas. But, _nothing...I mean nothing..._ could have prepared us for what it was actually like when we got here! There were no hotels to check into, no restaurants, shops, no people, nothing. Expect the smell of death everywhere... The sight of rotting corpses that were once living people, trying to attack everything that moved. That was enough to send most of them home, bribing and doing whatever they could, to get the first plane or boat out of here. There's only a few of us left here now, going out and reporting on everything we see."

"Why d'ya stay?" Daryl asked.

She looked away, biting down on her lower lip. "I had my reasons."

Through the darkness Daryl could just about make out from the tone of her voice and the soft glisten in her eyes, that she too had a story to tell. He didn't push it.

"Aint so bad here, I guess," he mumbled, blowing out some more smoke, listening to to the sound of the lapping waves.

She smiled, "It's only the beginning, but we're getting there... Y'know, you're here for a reason too, Daryl."

He pursed his lips into a frown and put his hand up to his mouth. That kind of talk made him uneasy at the best of times.

"You can do great things now that you're here, help a lot of people," she said.

He shifted awkwardly and cleared his throat. It really wasn't that simple.

"Your people," she started hesitantly. "Can I ask you one thing?"

He stubbed his cigarette out on to the ground, averting her inquisitive eyes staring at him in the moonlight.

"Yeah," he eventually answered quietly, allowing her to go on.

"Are there children amongst them?"

He nodded once, thinking immediately of the boy and the 'lil ass-kicker'. They weren't his kids but he cared about them as though they were. He missed them terribly.

"Don't you think they deserve a shot? A chance to be some place safe, I mean _really_ safe. Where they can be around other kids, and have access to books and technology, go to the park and the movies, go to college….Experience life…Rather than just experience survival. There are evacuation schemes here…" She trailed off, allowing her powerful words to sink in.

"Aint like that, we gotta community," Daryl muttered in response. He knew he was opening up more than he would like to and he hoped it wasn't a mistake. But after she had shared things with him he felt more at ease with her. She wasn't a threat, he could see that now. He liked her.

No matter what he had felt about life at Alexandria though, it wasn't his call to make about decisions like that, whether Rick and the other's abandoned their home there and took a chance. But he knew one thing for sure, he felt now more than ever that he needed to return to them as soon as possible to discuss things.

"You're planning to go back, aren't you?" She asked him with concern in her voice, from where she was sat opposite him hugging her knees to her chest still, her face illuminated by the soft glow of the burning bonfire.

Daryl looked across at her, but he didn't respond. Allowing his silence to do so instead.

"Where we found you was right on the edge of an infected zone. You can't go back there just the two of you again, it would be madness, without an escort, or the proper equipment and supplies." She was staring at him intensely now.

"Aint gotta a choice," he said, a gruffness in his voice.

"Yes you do, you could tell them here. They would go back with you, or at least give you weapons," she said passionately.

He shook his head firmly and scowled into the night. She didn't know what the hell she was talking about, and he wasn't about to be swayed by a pretty face, not when it came to the survival of his people.

"You think I don't know what I'm doing out there? I've been surviving on my own my whole life, had no choice. So, I do what I need to do." He snapped, his eyes flashing angrily now. He wished it didn't have to be this way, but it did.

She studied his face like she was reading a book, before she nodded. "Okay," she said softly.

The night suddenly took a turn for the darker and Daryl glanced at the bonfire to see apart from a few glowing twigs, the light in it was all burned out and most people had left the beach now. He looked back to Sienna to see she was shivering a little, leaning against Suki's soft grey fur.

"We should head back," she said.

He nodded in agreement.

* * *

"Sun will be back up again in a few hours," Sienna commented as they walked back along the path. "I love this time of year," she added with a dreamy smile.

Daryl just grunted something in response.

...

"Well, I'm down here, so I guess this is where we say goodnight," she stopped and said gesturing to a path in the opposite direction to where Daryl was staying, "You're up that way."

"Right, okay," he said quickly, pushing his hair away from his eyes so he could look at her properly. It had been a strange and unexpected night, but in a weird way he was sad it was over.

"I'm glad I met you, Daryl," she said with a shy but genuine smile.

"Yeah, you too," he mumbled awkwardly.

Then she moved into him and delicately wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing him into a hug.

She smelled amazing, sweet like vanilla and coconut, mixed with something fresh and floral. He inhaled it for a moment enjoying the feeling of her pressed against him. Normally he hated physical contact like hugging, it made him flinch uncomfortably. But with her it wasn't so much like that. It just felt nice and natural.

"Just promise me one thing," she said as the hug broke apart, "You won't leave without saying goodbye."

He nodded silently. Watching, as followed by Suki the pretty blonde turned and walked away into the night.

 **A/N - Thanks for reading! Please leave a review if you can :)**


	6. SIX

Sienna felt a rush of cool and refreshing early-morning sea air hit her flushed, moist face as she ran along the deserted beach. Her blonde ponytail was falling down her back and swinging back and forth behind her as her feet pounded along, kissing the wet sand beneath her in a rhythmical motion. Her long, toned legs striding along in her skimpy red shorts as she made her way back along the beach. The same route she took every morning. Her beloved dog by her side as always.

It was nice and peaceful at this time of day before the world came to life. Just her and Suki, with a few birds circling overhead. The ocean shining with a golden glint from the rising sun. A chance to clear her mind completely, to focus and think clearly about the things that were important.

If someone had told her a few years ago she would be out running for miles at the start of each day, Sienna would have laughed, exercise had never been her thing. But that, like a lot of things, had come to surprise her and was an indication of how much everything had changed for her.

In her old life, Sienna would have hit the snooze button on her alarm and rolled over, rather than jump up and out of bed to work up a sweat in her running shoes.

But now, she enjoyed the buzz of endorphins from the exercise. It was an addictive feeling, pushing her body to the ultimate fitness. Feeling her muscles stretch and work as she ran along the beautiful, deserted beach.

...

Nearly back at the base, she paused for a moment to look down at the timer on her wrist, and gaze out into the vast sea of sparkling blue in front of her. She panted quietly, her chest breathing in and out heavily as her soaring heart rate slowed a little. She placed her hands to her lower back to rest them on the damp material of her tight white running top, and she let out a long breath.

Sienna was a long way from home. A long way from so many things. From love, and friendships and family. From lazy weekends and carefree days; shopping trips, parties and laughter, and stressing about the little everyday things that came and went - a life that seemed unthinkable now. Gone, lost, but never forgotten.

Right here, right now, was exactly where she was meant to be. Sienna felt certain of that. Just her and Suki, and one hell of a story to tell.

Through her own personal darkness, she had found something, and she knew she now owed it to the world to keep going and to focus on the task of gaining knowledge, of experiencing and seeing things the way they actually were and to write about the world exactly as it was. No bullshit, no fluff, just truth.

Her heart was still beating and she carried within it the light of a precious energy, one that would never leave her. Pushing her forwards.

Taking a moment more, she continued to enjoy the quiet sound of the waves rolling in and out. Despite the hell that had exploded on the human race, out here, at one with nature was still so serene and beautiful, a stunning spot. A part of the world very sought after before the devastation of the virus outbreak.

She shifted her gaze to the horizon above the sand dunes. Where she could see the outline of what once would have been several, highly desirable large houses with perfect ocean views, worth a small fortune in the old world. Now, they were more than likely empty and derelict, left to ruin, and stripped of anything with any value to the new cruel world. A shell of their former glory.

Thinking like that made Sienna sad.

Instead, many a time when she had been out here running recently, she had preferred to imagine what life could be like again living in one of those glamorous and desirable buildings. Fantasising about making one a proper place to call home.

But Sienna had come to learn that home wasn't four walls, home was two eyes and a heartbeat.

She inhaled deeply, filling her lungs with fresh oxygenated air, letting the breath out slowly again. Shifting her gaze away from broken dreams. Focusing back on the sea.

Her head was throbbing a little. She put her hand up to her temple. She knew it hadn't been the best idea to stay up to the small hours of the morning the night before. She was used to surviving on little sleep these days, but that together with the wine she had been drinking, had given her a slightly fuzzy head.

It had been an unusual night. She had stayed up and put the world to rights with the mysterious stranger they had found and brought in recently from far out in the woods. Daryl.

There had been something about this particular survivor that had captured Sienna's interest. He was a little gruff and rough around the edges, appearing at first to be a tad cold and aloof. But she could tell he had a hidden depth. From his accent she concluded he must have been from one of the southern states, and from his eyes she was certain he'd had more than a turbulent time out there since the start of the 'wildfire' outbreak. Before she had crossed his path.

She had broken the rules to save him and bring him in after he had been bitten by one of the infected, but she firmly believed he was worth the risk. Embedded within his dark blue eyes she had seen something. There was pain there, a pain that appeared to run deep, but there was also a sort of fire there, a determination. He had something or someone that meant something to him, and he was going to stop at nothing to protect them.

He fascinated her.

His gaze had been intense but awkward and there was a defensiveness to him that eased off a little the more they drank. Normally Sienna was good at reading people, but with him she had found it a little more tricky. She couldn't quite put her finger on what his motivations were. She wondered if he perhaps hadn't fully figured that out himself yet either. His place in the world.

Seeing him again after their first encounter that dark night, had also caused a sort of unexpected reaction in her too. He had been filthy and on the brink of death back in the woods. But upon their second meeting, Sienna realised she hadn't noticed how attractive she found him, in a rough and sexy kind of way. Underneath his long scraggly hair and amongst his scars, he was uniquely handsome.

She liked him.

Which was why she hoped he would reconsider his plans to leave quickly and make his way back along the dangerous roads to where he had come from. Because she knew that alone he would more than likely not make it back alive.

But watching the brilliant blue ocean rippling in front of her, Sienna realised it really was none of her business what Daryl did. She could tell he didn't trust people easily and she wouldn't betray the little trust he had possibly shown her by having him followed and his people checked out. However much it filled her with worry and sadness to think there was a good possibility she would never see him again.

She wasn't perfect, she often said and did the wrong thing, but she knew what the right thing was to do here. Despite the consequences, she would keep out of it.

No-one was held prisoner here. Most people stayed, but the ones that chose not to didn't last very long and it was rare for people to return for that reason alone.

With her mind still replaying her conversation with Daryl the night before, Sienna sensed a masculine presence coming up behind her on the empty beach. She felt a strong hand grip her shoulder and she spun around.

"Alex! What the hell?" She exclaimed. Coming face to face with a fellow reporter.

"Good to see you too, doll face," he responded, grinning back at her. Jogging on the spot in shorts and a hoodie.

"What you doing out here?" She asked, a bead of sweat forming on her brow.

"Early morning run," he replied, grinning some more, his dark eyes glancing over her figure in her tight, sweaty white top and red shorts.

Alex was a fellow journalist and sort of friend. Sienna had met him on the plane over. He was American and had been based overseas when the outbreak had started. She respected him professionally, he was damn good at his job, but he would walk over anyone that got in his way of breaking a big story and that made her wary of him.

Tall, tanned and muscular, with dark hair and eyes - Alex was also gorgeous. The problem was he knew it. His arrogance had prevented Sienna from letting him in and trusting him fully and they had a love/hate relationship. With more of the latter on Sienna's part.

"Where were you last night? I tried messaging you," he asked, catching her eye.

"Why?" She asked suspiciously.

"Monroe called an emergency briefing. There's another trip planned, same mission as before, area 3. I'm on it."

"Area 3? That's my area! What did you say to Monroe?" She exclaimed, her face unimpressed, her hand resting on her hip. They all had assigned areas in the safe zones. Her's being area 3, covering from their current location right over to where she had been when they had come across Daryl and Aaron.

"Well, you snooze you lose doll-face," he responded with an arrogant smirk.

"You stole that from me, that's my area, you're such an ass," she snapped, her eyes flashing angrily as she shook her head. A sudden breeze blew a loose strand of her blonde hair across her face, as she added, "After everything I've done for you."

She looked away from him, tucking her hair back behind her ear. Just when she was starting to think Alex was actually a decent guy he went and did something like this. "I'm going to speak to Monroe, tell him what a backstabbing jack-ass you are."

Steve Monroe was the guy they all reported to out here. He co-ordinated and risk assessed everything to do with the press as part of his role as a senior army official. He issued the passes and decided who went where. Normally the military didn't like too many reporters accompanying them when they were undertaking risky missions. Therefore it was best practice for only one reporter and crew to go, and chances to get out on the field were highly sought after.

"Well, I'm sure he'll consider allowing you to come along and assist me…. We can even share a sleeping bag," Alex said suggestively, raising his eye-brows with a flirty grin.

"Not if you were the last man standing," she snapped back, rolling her big blue eyes.

It was no secret Alex was desperate to sleep with her. But Sienna had never felt flattered by that fact, seeing as he also appeared desperate to sleep with any female with a pulse. The difference being most of the women over here had given in to his charm, wit and good looks. Sienna though, knew better than to fall for his flirty ways. Which only appeared to make him want her even more.

"With the way things are going - I might be one day," he retorted.

"Don't frighten me," she muttered under her breath. Turning to walk away from him.

"You know they're planning to open an STD clinic over here? You should get in line now," she added dryly, watching him following her out of the corner of her eye.

He ignored her.

"So where were you last night anyway?" He asked casually, catching up to her.

"Came down here, I was chatting to one of the new survivors." She explained in a semi-friendly tone, looking back at him.

"Not that loser redneck you were talking to at the bar? What were you wasting your time with him for?"

"His name is Daryl, and he isn't a loser. He's got something, he's interesting" she replied.

"Seriously? You're kidding, right? You know what guys like that are like. Haven't you been warned a thousand times to stay away from them?"

"He isn't like that," Sienna surprised herself by insisting, in defence of a guy she had known such a short period of time.

"They're all like that. Scum. You should do yourself a favour and stay away from anyone like him," he said seriously this time.

"And you should do yourself a favour and try not to judge so quickly. Not every survivor is a lowlife psychopath, you know," she said fiercely.

"Most of them are."

"Well he isn't, he survived out there all this time, and I'm willing to bet he's more of a man than you'll ever be," she argued.

This time the confident smile faded from Alex's face. Her harsh words, together with the look of disgust in her eye had stung him.

"Whatever," he shrugged, his dark brown eyes finding her wide blue ones. "Doesn't matter anyway, seeing as before I came over I saw 'medical' over in his building. Apparently one of the two new male survivors that your team brought in on the helicopter, was rushed into emergency surgery. So, looks like there is a chance that your new friend won't be around much longer anyway."

Sienna felt her heart suddenly rocket out of her chest. She had known there were complications with the treatment he had received. But Daryl had seemed fine when she had last spoken to him. She had felt certain he was going to go on to good things, that there was a new journey beginning for him.

But she could also tell from Alex's face he wasn't bullshitting her.

Signalling to Suki, she turned to start running back along the beach. Whatever was going on with Daryl she felt certain he would need a friend right now…

 **A/N - Thanks for reading, please leave a review if you can :)**


	7. SEVEN

**A/N - Thanks again to everyone reading and reviewing. For anyone reading my other stories, I will be updating, 'Something in the Sun', very soon too, once I get over my writers block :)**

* * *

The hospital hallway was long and empty. Eerily silent except for the sound of a few muffled voices coming and going. Daryl was perched on the edge of his seat. His tense body was on full alert, his palms together as he sunk his face into them to wait for news. It had been over an hour since Aaron had been rushed in and Daryl had no idea what was going on.

It had all happened so quickly. Daryl had woken from a deep sleep earlier that morning, to bright sunlight streaming through his blinds and the sound of the birds singing outside his window. He had glanced across to Aaron's bed opposite to see that his friend was groggy and disorientated. At first Daryl had thought possibly he had just needed to eat or drink, so he had left their new apartment in search of food.

However when he had returned Daryl had found Aaron collapsed and unconscious on the floor. That was when Daryl had raised the alarm, realising something was seriously wrong and Aaron needed urgent medical assistance.

* * *

Sat in the lonely and deserted hospital corridor, Daryl replayed the scene over and over in his head - Aaron's bruised and bloodied face lying lifeless on the floor. Was there anything more he could have done? He should have spotted sooner that something hadn't been right with Aaron. Instead he had been too pre-occupied with planning their trip back to Alexandria.

Now he was left in this strange alien place, figuring that out and planning for it all alone.

He lifted his head slightly, hearing the sound of the entrance door opening, and he looked over to see blonde hair and blue eyes rushing towards him. It was Sienna.

"I'm so sorry. I came as soon as I heard," she said breathlessly, her cheeks were flushed and her hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail. "How is he?"

Daryl allowed his eyes to meet her's, "Dunno." He answered truthfully.

"He'll be okay, they'll save him," she reassured, sitting down next to him. The scent of sweet vanilla and coconut filling the air around him, taking him back to the night before.

He shrugged and sniffed, allowing his gaze to slide sideways to take another look at her, before fixing his eyes directly in front of him again in silence. He didn't feel much like talking or interacting.

Suddenly the double doors at the end of the corridor swung open and a short asian woman in dark blue scrubs wandered out towards them.

"What's going on?" Daryl said gruffly, jumping to his feet to face her.

She raised an eyebrow, looking from Daryl to Sienna, before she said, "I take it you're the friend he came in with?"

"He dead?" Daryl asked roughly. He tried to sound brusque and surly but there was an underlying tone of fear and panic in his voice.

"I'm Dr Cheung," she said, ignoring his question. "I've been treating your friend. We performed emergency cardiopulmonary resuscitation, he had suffered an intracranial hemorrhage and we had to immediate decompression and he is now in a prolonged state of unconsciousness."

"In _english_ , Amelia," Sienna cut in briskly, noting the confused look on Daryl's face.

"He's not dead. He's in a coma," the doctor said bluntly.

"When's he going to wake up?" Sienna asked quickly, addressing the other woman directly and informally.

Amelia Cheung had arrived the same day as Sienna. She was Canadian, but had been working at a hospital in Zurich. Although on the face of it she couldn't be more different to Sienna, the two had formed a kind of firm friendship. Despite pretending otherwise, Amelia needed the bright outlook Sienna offered most of the time and Sienna liked the tough no-nonsense attitude Amelia always possessed.

Amelia eyed Sienna curiously for a moment. She didn't need to ask what she was doing here, the blonde reporter had a reputation for getting too emotionally involved in things.

She looked back to face Daryl in response to Sienna's question, answering, "That's difficult to predict. It could be a couple of days, or we could be looking at weeks, month's even. But we're doing all we can for him and we're hopeful when he wakes he'll return to his original state of functioning."

"I wanna see him," Daryl blurted out gruffly.

Amelia nodded.

* * *

Daryl's eyes rested on his friend lying motionless in the bed. It was a typical hospital room, sparse and functional. There were various wires and tubes attached to him, and a couple of beeping monitors that Daryl didn't quite understand. One thing was for sure though - it looked serious.

' _No Aaron, don't die. Don't you fucking leave me too.'_ He thought, his eyes full of emotion as he hid behind his long hair.

He felt utterly helpless.

Everyone he got close to ended up dying in the end. Perhaps it was him, maybe he was cursed and he should just never let himself get close to anyone again.

He sniffed, suddenly feeling a warm hand tentatively touch the exposed skin on his forearm. His eyes moved to the side to see Sienna flash him a kind and reassuring smile.

He didn't say anything but he couldn't help but secretly be glad she was there. That he wasn't completely alone. He couldn't deny the sensation of her touch wasn't comforting either. Even if he had no desire to show that in any way.

"He's in good hands. Amelia was a world renown Neuro surgeon before. We're lucky to have her here. If anyone can save him, she can." Sienna explained softly.

He nodded once in acknowledgement. Before turning back to stare at Aaron again.

When Daryl had lost people before it had been sudden and unexpected. He hadn't witnessed them fighting for their lives like this. He hadn't stood by watching, knowing there was nothing he could do to save them. He hadn't known Aaron long, but he knew he was a good person and he didn't deserve to die like this, all alone.

He'd never found the chance to tell him that, and perhaps now he never would.

Daryl had planned to discuss their trip back to Alexandria with Aaron that morning. Suggesting they made their way back as soon as possible. Now that wasn't going to happen. But looking at his friend, Daryl made him a mental promise.

 _Whatever happened he would make it back to their people and he would make sure they knew what had happened to Aaron._

"I need to get some air," he mumbled, moving towards the door to exit the room.

* * *

"You eaten anything?" Sienna asked when they were back outside in the bright midday sunshine.

Daryl shook his head, realising suddenly how hungry he was. It was surprising how quickly his body could get used to having regular meals again.

"Me neither," she replied. "I've got food at my place," she announced with a knowing smile, gesturing with her head for him to follow her.

Daryl didn't have the strength to protest as suddenly Suki the dog appeared at their side too. She had waited for them outside. "Hey girl,' Daryl said quietly, ruffling the large dog's fur, taking a small comfort from her gentle ice blue eyes staring up at him.

* * *

"Where d'ya get eggs from?" Daryl asked a little shocked, watching as Sienna cracked four into the pan in front of them.

"Out there," Sienna explained, pointing out the small window in front of her.

The place she lived in was bigger than the place Daryl had been allocated. He presumed she lived there with someone else as it was on two levels and had an open plan kitchen/diner big enough for a table and chairs, and three sofas. She had told him the buildings around this area were mainly occupied by the few media that came and went.

He turned his head to look out the window to see to his amazement a huddle of around four or five squawking, clucking chickens. He hadn't seen a live chicken for years and feared like most animals, he might never see one again. But this lot right in front of his eyes, were very much alive and kicking.

Before the change Daryl had killed and eaten many a bird like that. Now, as with most foods, he'd given up any hope of tasting fresh chicken or eggs again. Thinking back to the many unquestionable things he had been forced to eat to stay alive.

"What the hell?" He asked, and he wrinkled his brow in confusion. The chickens roaming around casually outside, were clearly another sign that this place was completely free of walkers. Such creatures wouldn't have lasted five minutes with any walkers around able to sniff them out.

"Aint seen one of those making noises like that for a long time. What you keeping em alive for?" He asked gruffly, a little annoyed, as he thought how those birds would have provided days worth of meals for his group back at the prison.

"Because they have their uses," she replied unfazed.

"Yeah, like being fried and eaten," he responded brusquely.

"Uh-uh," she said, shaking her blonde head, "They have better uses at the moment, like laying every day. Until they stop doing that, these bad girls are staying right here." She stated firmly.

Daryl looked away from them and shook his head again. He frowned, if she was the kind of person that wanted to keep a group of dumb chickens alive then they weren't going to get along too well he thought, irritated. But something told him that was a conversation for another day. Right now his empty stomach was getting the better of him.

"Here," she handed him a plate with some kind of steaming omelette on it. "Did you know eggs are one of the only foods that can provide a near complete nutrition, you could live off them alone," she explained.

"Thanks," he mumbled, taking it from her, he put a forkful straight to his lips, it tasted good. "Don't tell me y'dont eat no meat neither," he muttered with a mouthful.

"Of course I eat meat," she was quick to respond, looking back at his unimpressed face.

"Bet you wouldn't eat those chickens though?" He asked with a smirk.

She just shrugged with a mouthful of food.

They ate some more in silence.

"Thanks," Daryl mumbled again when he was done.

"You're welcome," Sienna replied, looking back at him through her long dark lashes and biting her lip. "Actually, there was something else I wanted to show you," she said tentatively. "Come with me."

...

Daryl's eyes widened with curiosity as he followed her upstairs and into another room he presumed was her bedroom. He watched as she opened a cupboard and took something out, handing it to him with a nervous smile. "This is yours?"

He took it from her and her cheeks blushed. It was a leather vest with angel wings on the back.

Examining it in his hands, Daryl's harsh eyes grew round and glassy. It was just a piece of tattered clothing, but it signified something - who he had been, what he had been holding on to. He had presumed it had gone along with his crossbow, his bike and everything else he had lost the day he had nearly died out in the woods. Now it was back, reminding him once again of who he was.

"Yeah," he eventually croaked out. "Thanks," the wrinkles around his eyes deepened as he smiled subtly back at her in careful gratitude.

Fixing his gaze on her, he awaited further explanation.

"They took it off you, right before they put you on the stretcher and into the helicopter. You were pretty out of it, but I figured it would be important to you, so I kept it. I washed it and cleaned the blood off it."

"Was my brother's actually," he explained in a low voice. Remembering how he had taken it along with some of Merle's other belongings right after he had gone missing in Atlanta and Daryl had first joined Rick's group. He felt a lump form in his throat, and a surge of emotion hit him all over again about his dead brother.

"You're into bikes?" Sienna asked, avoiding the subject of his brother, sensing it was painful for Daryl.

He nodded, "Yeah."

"You had one, didn't you? That's how you were travelling when we found you?" She guessed.

He didn't respond.

"There was actually something else I came over to talk to you about earlier too," her sapphire blue eyes looked over to meet his again as she changed the subject.

Daryl's heart raced a little with the tone of her voice in anticipation of what she was about to say.

"I just found out this morning there is another trip planned to area 3."

His eyes narrowed with confusion.

"Area 3 is where you were when we came across you," she explained. "Intelligence has come in that there is a dangerous rebel group there increasing in numbers, possibly the same group that tried to kill you, and there have also been more sightings of the infected. A field team is being dispatched tomorrow. My team and I are going along too….."

She hesitated.

Before she had come across to the hospital building to find Daryl, Sienna had successfully managed to win her place back on the trip from Alex, and she had also had another idea at the same time.

"So, I'm sure if you speak to the guy in charge, they'll let you go too. You're already on their radar as someone worth recruiting with all the skills you have.." She gushed before pausing as she noted the slightly uncomfortable look on his face.

Daryl furrowed a brow, speechless for a second he felt his heart rate pick up even more. No-one had ever said he was worth recruiting before.

"I dunno, what would I have to do?" He eventually asked.

"Just come along, they'll give you weapons, equipment to help them track and locate anything of interest. Then when we're back in the same area again, you can find your bike and stuff again and travel back to your community in safety," she said slowly, her blue eyes widening.

"It's got to be a better option than just breaking out on your own with nothing," she continued.

He went quiet for a moment, thinking it through. He wasn't quite sure why, but he wanted to trust her and he didn't think it was a trick. He had heard that other survivors had ended up working with the military and intelligence services here. It didn't seem like such a bad or crazy idea. But he also knew he still had to have his guard up at all times. No matter what, in this world now he had to always remember - trust no-one.

"Why d'ya care so much what happens to me?" He asked defensively, studying her face intently for her response. He wasn't used to people giving a shit about him.

She shrugged casually. "I saved your life, so just wanted to at least try and make sure you have a semi decent one. Anything could happen to you out there without back up."

He shot her an almost relieved look.

"So what do you say?" She asked again.

"Don't have many other options," he mumbled in agreement. "Thanks," he added with a genuine and grateful smile.

She smiled back and her cheeks were rosy, her eyes alight. Whatever happened now, Sienna hoped this way he would at least make it back to his people in one piece.

"I'll join you," he said out loud, his voice softer.

It sounded a little ridiculous just agreeing and he knew it was likely to blow up in his face, but as he saw the kindness in her eyes, he decided it was worth the risk.

 **A/N - Thanks for reading, please review if you can :)**


	8. EIGHT

**a/n - Thanks to everyone reading, reviewing and following! The story is really getting going now & there is LOTS of exciting stuff in store for Daryl in coming chapters :) **

* * *

_I have come to the conclusion that life is all about tests. Now, more than ever, we are all constantly being tested - when push comes to shove - how will we respond? What will we become?_

 _We are living through deeply unsettling times. The world we once knew has gone. All the things we once took for granted have vanished, replaced with a new sense of hopelessness, fear and sadness._

 _But it is what we do with that fear and sadness that counts. Do we repress it inside, turning it into anger, rage and darkness? Giving in to the dark side slowly creeping into our every waking thoughts - making us lose all the things about us that made us who we were._

 _Or do we use it to drive us forwards? Making us stronger, braver, more compassionate, loyal and determined. Perhaps, being pushed to the absolute limit can make us discover a powerful inner strength we never thought we had. Because keeping going, searching for the tiniest bit of light in a world that seems to be permanently dark, is the hardest possible thing you could ever imagine…The greatest test we could ever face._

 _Sometimes, being out here, it feels as though everyone that has faced that test has failed. Even the ones that still have breath left in their lungs, and life left in the whites of their eyes - are still pretty much dead behind them. Having seen and done things so horrific that there is simply no return - they will never be able to come back._

 _But then every so often something happens to amaze you._

 _The moment when you realise that people can take the test and pass. Here in a world where immorality and darkness rules, true colours can shine. Humanity can remain intact, as people discover what really matters in a world that has gone to hell….._

 _Sienna Kavanagh - July 2014_

"What are you working on, your column?" Sienna heard a male voice ask, snapping her back into reality from where she had been lost in a world of her own on the moving truck they were travelling in. With her headphones in, she had been going over her writing, in-between occasionally staring hypnotically out of the window as the dreary, broken world around them passed them by.

She looked up to see Sam, one of her team members looking over at her curiously from where they were sat in the large army vehicle.

Sam and Louie always travelled with Sienna, they worked well together. Louie being a photographer and Sam being amongst other things a short film maker, as well as a fellow writer and blogger, a little more comfortable being in front of the camera then Sienna was most of them time when they were out and about together, he was confident, smart and funny. Together the three of them had made some quite impressive footage of the post apocalyptic landscape; interviewed some interesting people and had some pretty lucky near escapes too. The most recent being the time back in the very area they were travelling back to now - the time they had stumbled across Daryl and Aaron.

"Just my latest blog entry," she replied, her wide, dreamy blue eyes resting on the kind, hazel ones of her friend Sam.

"You're not still wasting your time with that?" She suddenly heard Alex speak up from where he was sat a few seats away. "No-ones interested anymore, all they want is descriptions of horrible deaths and families torn apart. Of the hunt for a vaccine."

Sienna rolled her eyes, choosing to ignore Alex. She kept her eyes down, to where she had been scanning through her work on her old temperamental tablet. Alex's style was different to hers. She wanted to write from the heart about the devastation she was experiencing, not just shock people with all the gruesome details.

"How many views have you had?" Alex asked in a more genuine tone in response to her silence.

"I don't know. That's not why I do it anymore," she replied, her eyes sliding across in his direction for a second to give him her attention, before looking away again.

Her gaze resting back on the baron, bleak landscape whizzing past the window. No matter how many times she saw the devastation the WFN1 virus had left behind Sienna didn't think she would ever get used to it. The burned out towns, the rotting corpses on the streets, the diminishing wildlife. The world fallen to ashes.

She glanced back inside the moving vehicle.

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed the dark hair and shirt of Daryl sat a few seats away from her. She was glad he was here. Even if he didn't have much to say, just the fact he was there was enough. She knew behind his expressive eyes he had a story to tell - and she wanted to get to know him better, she felt already that there was the beginnings of a unexpected connection building between them. He wasn't like other people she had come across.

She closed her eyes.

….

Daryl flinched inwardly from where he had been sat quietly on the truck. He had been alerted by the sound of voices, Sienna's voice in particular and his ears pricked up.

They had been going for hours and she had been silent for most of that time. Daryl had pretended not to notice her. But he had been unable to stop himself from stealing the occasional glance in her direction.

Neither of them had said a word to each other. Her eyes had been cast down, her sweeping blonde hair falling across her face from where it was loosely tied up on her head in a ponytail. She had been focusing on something and Daryl couldn't help but be curious as to what?

Apart from exchanging an awkward smile when he had first arrived at the truck earlier that morning, they hadn't actually spoken yet. She had seemed pre-occupied and he hadn't had much to say to anyone anyway. So he had told himself he didn't care. She might be the reason he was there. But Daryl wasn't here to make friends. He was here to find his way back to his people.

...

As they made their way across the once busy but now completely empty roads, Daryl barely spoke to anyone. Focusing instead on what was going on outside.

They had passed many abandoned vehicles and buildings - office blocks, schools, churches, hospitals. But surprisingly no sign of any dead. Proving that this area seemingly was 'safe' and clear of 'walkers'.

They had also gone through a couple of check points. Barriers set up by the international military and policed by armed soldiers. They'd been waved through immediately, but Daryl couldn't help but wonder what would happen if a lone group of survivors tried to get through.

* * *

It was getting dark as the vehicle came to a stop at the edge to a small forest, and they piled out to set up camp for the night. Daryl couldn't be sure of their exact location, but he knew it was close to where he had been with Aaron, east of Alexandria.

He stepped outside and looked around him. There were possibly about thirty people in total. The majority trained military, and apart from Sienna, Amelia the doctor, who had come along as the field medic, they were all male.

The group he had joined were out here again to look for signs of other survivors, in particular a rebel group they believed were growing in numbers and wiping out everything else in the area - a group that needed to be stopped. The plan was to investigate and gather intelligence before reporting back higher up, to bring out more force if needed. If they couldn't stop them alone.

...

Daryl could see there wasn't much wildlife around, which he knew meant there weren't any walkers. As far as he was aware it was still classed as a 'safe' zone. But Daryl knew the deeper they got in the higher the chance there would be the 'walking dead' around. As Sienna had explained to him, the area they had found him and Aaron in had been right on the edge of an 'infected zone'. The area Alexandria was located in.

...

Trekking into the woods again, the recruiting trip just a week before with Aaron felt like another life to Daryl. So much had happened in the days that had followed their near capture by the wolves that eventful night, that it was hard to wrap his head around it fully. Things were changing and he was making new discoveries every day. Even when he got back to Alexandria, Daryl knew things could never be the same now. He was starting to feel different. See things with fresh eyes.

He stopped walking for a moment to examine some marks carved into one of the trees that had caught his eye. They weren't natural and he scanned the ground around looking for signs of any tracks or clues as to who had been out there. He frowned, whoever had been around here had known what they were doing, they had been careful to cover their backs, and from experience Daryl knew those kind of people were the ones to be wary of. Trouble.

"We stop here," Monroe the guy in charge said as they got a little further in and reached a small clearing by a stream.

The plan was to set up camp for the night. Before searching the area a little further on foot the next day. The day Daryl planned to head back to Alexandria.

* * *

Daryl sat himself down on the ground a little way back from everyone else. He took his water bottle out of his backpack to drink. Before pulling out his map to work out exactly where they were.

Glancing over to where a camp fire had been lit, Daryl caught sight of Sienna sat with the rest of her group. She was laughing at something one of them had said, but he couldn't quite catch what it was. He noticed the smug, dark haired guy she had been talking to earlier sitting down next to her saying something. He was raising his eyebrows and she was shaking her head. Daryl recognised him as the same guy she had entered the bar with the other night, and Daryl wasn't quite sure why, but he didn't like the guy, he seemed too full of himself, like he needed to be taken down a peg or two.

Daryl wondered again if the other man was Sienna's boyfriend. She hadn't given the impression that she had a romantic partner, but he was sat quite close to her, which sparked Daryl's curiosity.

"In your dreams, Alex," she suddenly said loudly, turning away from him, and it was clear from the look of disgust on her face that he wasn't her boyfriend. Just a jack-ass trying his luck.

"Alex, stop perving over Sienna and come and help me get this other fire going," Amelia said loudly and bossily from where she was trying to light another fire by their tents. Amelia liked the adventure of getting out on the field when she could with a medical team. There was always some kind of medical crisis she was needed for. It was what kept her going most days, knowing this was her mission - to use her gift and extensive research and experience to save peoples lives.

"Why are girls so useless with fires?" Alex exclaimed, arching a brow without moving.

Amelia scowled back at him.

"Here," Daryl said, striking a match from his pocket to hand to the slim brunette.

"Thanks," Amelia replied with a genuine smile.

He nodded once. Not feeling like giving a full explanation of how to get a fire started out here with your bare hands.

His gaze darted back to where Sienna was, to see the blonde was now in another conversation with the other guys and looked possibly to be arguing with Alex again. As if sensing him looking, she glanced up for a split second, catching his eye as they shared an un-spoken moment. But before they had the chance to interact further, Daryl moved away again, looking back at his map to try to get his bearings again, ignoring things that were no concern of his.

What was a little more concerning to him was the fact that there were clearly the signs of hidden tracks scattered around, fires that had been put out and signs of the living. They'd been careful but there was definitely another group out here - and if it was the same psychopathic people he and Aaron had encountered before, that was bad news.

If the intelligence Monroe and his people had was to be believed too, there was more than just the three of them and they were operating all around this area. It would only be a matter of time before they ventured a little further out and discovered Alexandria. A thought that made Daryl's blood run cold. If there was any kind of threat to his people, Daryl wanted to be there too, to help defend them.

* * *

After they'd eaten later and settled in, Daryl stood up, feeling the need to take a short walk into the woods alone to see what he could find.

Proceeding with caution on the uneven, dirty track beneath him, Daryl made his way through the woods, the large oak trees from above providing a shelter from the night sky. The sound of tinkling from the stream nearby filling the air as the scent of earth and water lingered all around.

As he wandered further away from the camp, Daryl came to a sudden stop. He had exceptional night vision and he was certain he had seen something moving further up. He froze, feeling lost without his crossbow. Even though he had a fully loaded gun, Daryl didn't feel as confident and able to defend himself as he would have been had he his prized weapon in his hands.

He took a small step in front of him with both his hands clasping his gun tightly. There was another sound, this time from behind him. He held the gun up on hight alert, pointing it in the direction of the danger as his body filled with adrenaline.

"We're on the same fucking side," Monroe suddenly exclaimed appearing from the trees, holding his hands up with a smirk.

Daryl scowled, slowly lowering his weapon.

"You following me?" Daryl grunted, his eyes narrowing in annoyance.

"Free country isn't it?" Monroe responded, shrugging.

Daryl shot him a wary look, his creased eyes framed by his long hair were filled with suspicion. He didn't speak.

"Smoke?" Monroe offered, holding up a packet of cigarettes.

Daryl eyed him suspiciously still. Steve Monroe had seemed okay to him so far. He was American and by all accounts had a pretty senior role now within the UN military base, working alongside the British and French. He clearly had a story to tell. He was very charismatic, probably around 50, with greying, dark hair and a chiseled jawline, and he had an air of authority about him that people seemed to respect.

"Thanks," Daryl eventually said in a low voice, reaching out to take a cigarette, his guard still raised.

"Never used to smoke before - thought it would put you in an early grave. Funny how that seems to be the last thing to worry about now. Moments like this a quiet smoke can be the greatest pleasure in the word." Monroe said, blowing smoke in to the clear, night air underneath the green canopy of trees.

Daryl didn't respond as he silently tried to work the other man out. He couldn't quite place his accent exactly but there was definitely a hint of southern dialogue in there. There was also a look in his eyes that said he had been through it too, that he knew what it was like out here. If things had been different he could quite easily have ended up as part of Rick's group, or the Governor's possibly.

"Y'know, I was like you not so long ago, doing whatever I could to survive out here," Monroe started, capturing Daryl's full attention. "Lost all my group and was out here alone, just me and my wife, must have been getting on for a month before they picked us up. Sometimes I wonder how we did it - survived all that time with things the way they were."

Daryl listened as he smoked, his eyes darting across the older guy.

"I was a CIA agent before the change," he explained, lowering his smoke as his eyes turned to study Daryl's face.

"That why they made you top dog now?" Daryl asked in a rough voice, feeling defensive again all of a sudden.

"Nah - I'm not going to lie my training helped, gave me the advantage out here. I led my group safely for months. But who we were before all this - that don't mean shit now. It's who we are _now_ that counts. What we've become."

Daryl nodded slowly in agreement. The other guy was smart he could see that and he was starting to gain Daryl's respect.

"Most people I worked with before the change, they thought they knew everything there was to know. They had it all, they were complacent and arrogant - they're all dead now. There is no place for them in this world. Their failure to survive was a reflection of how much times have changed. It's survival of the fittest now, the only people left are the people that are fully awake and able to see things how they really are."

Daryl felt his hand shaking slightly as he put his cigarette to his mouth to take another drag - and he thought of Rick - of all the things he had done and all the tough, life and death decisions the former Sheriff's deputy had had to made to keep their group alive. After the farm, Carol had tried to talk Daryl into leaving Rick. But Daryl had known sticking with Rick was the right thing to do, the only thing to do, if they wanted to make it.

"I saw you earlier," Monroe continued. "You spotted things my men didn't. You know exactly what you're doing out here. You're smart and you know how to survive out here, you've got what it takes to make it. You made it for months."

"Just did what I had to do," Daryl muttered awkwardly, he wasn't used to compliments.

"You've got skills we need. You could be a big part of this operation. You could take a leading role."

"Nah," Daryl shook his head. "I ain't no leader."

"You don't have to be a leader to take a leading part. Think about it…. Tomorrow, I want to split up into two groups - I'll take one, you take the other. You know this area, right? This is where we picked you and your friend up? See if there is anything different around here, any danger signs, don't do anything rash, just observe. We'll meet back here on day three and regroup, then we can report back to base for back-up if necessary or take out any threats on our own if we can."

He paused, his eyes studying Daryl for a moment, "What do you say, you in?"

"Okay... Don't see why not, I guess I'm in." Daryl found himself replying in agreement without any further hesitation. He wasn't used to people believing in him like this, and it felt good to be valued.

He would still find his belongings as his number one priority, but Monroe didn't have to know that. Daryl would still help him tomorrow if he could. This hadn't been in his original plan. Daryl had wanted to find his bike and his crossbow and head back to Alexandria as soon as possible. But he guessed it wouldn't hurt to try and help these people along the way too, if he could. They were all still practically strangers to him, but somehow he was slowly starting to feel part of what they were doing.

Daryl suddenly thought about Aaron, his friend had seen it before Daryl had. Aaron had felt that what was going on here was the start of something. If Aaron was by his side now and not fighting for his life in a strange hospital bed, Daryl felt sure he would be echoing his thoughts too.

* * *

Sienna wriggled around on top of her sleeping bag. Amelia was snoring next to her in a deep sleep, but Sienna was wide awake.

She couldn't quite shake a small fluttering of butterflies inside her - a feeling that something was going to happen, something big.

Her mind kept wandering back to Daryl. He had been quiet and surly for most of the evening and before she'd had the chance to speak to him properly, he had disappeared off. She feared he had left, which filled her with a strange sense of regret and sadness. Even though she knew his plans were always to go back to his people, Sienna had hoped he would have at least said goodbye. That their time together however short, would have at least warranted that.

But she knew the most important thing to him was returning to his group.

Her eyes stared up at the blackness of the material at the top of the tent and she couldn't help but wonder whether there was someone that he wanted to return to - a woman perhaps. He was so secretive it was hard to tell. But more than likely there was some-one special stirring him.

She wondered why she even cared. But deep down she knew she cared because there was something different, something special about the gruff and quiet survivor. Something she liked. A lot.

Feeling alone in the dark, Sienna reached out for Suki's soft fur from where her canine companion was curled up asleep next to her, she felt comforted by the gentle sound of her dog breathing by her side.

She shifted on to her side as she heard a male voice outside. It was Monroe and he was talking to someone.

"Get some rest now, we'll talk again in the morning."

"Okay, thanks." A low voice answered in a deep southern accent.

Sienna recognised immediately it was Daryl's voice, and a small smile formed on her lips as her butterflies increased.

 _He was still here. He'd come back. For now. Tomorrow she would speak to him. Perhaps it didn't have to be goodbye, just yet?_

She was glad Daryl was out here with them. Because somehow, everything felt better with him here.

...

 **a/n - Thanks for reading! Please leave a review with thoughts!**


	9. NINE

**A/N - I haven't had the chance to edit this properly. So apologise for any errors etc.. but really wanted to upload while it's in my head - as I won't get another chance for a while. As always thanks for support!**

* * *

The sun was already up as Daryl made his way down to the stream by their camp. Getting closer he could hear a dog barking and laughter. As the stream came fully into sight the first thing Daryl could see was bright blonde hair. It was Sienna.

She was laughing at something Amelia was saying to her, with Sam and Louie nearby. Her hair was loosely piled up on top of her head as usual and she was just wearing a tank top and pair of skimpy shorts.

He allowed his gaze to briefly slide over her profile before he looked away, setting to the task of filling up his water bottles from the stream. But his eyes were unable to stop from wandering back in her direction.

He was silently contemplating precisely when and how he was going to go about getting back to Alexandria now, whilst still staring at the hot blonde that wasn't his to stare at, making his cheeks burn, stirring things in him he hadn't felt in years.

"Morning," she said, walking up to him meeting his eye for a second.

He nodded at her and grunted something in response, suddenly noticing apart from Suki the dog everyone else was making their way back to camp. It was just the two of them.

"You're still here," she said with a sunny smile.

"Yeah," he responded, feeling a strange knotting in his stomach, up close now she looked even better. Her body was in good shape but she wasn't stick thin, her limbs were long and lean, but she had a kind of curve to her hips, waist and bust that was rare to see on a woman these days. Most women were all skin and bones now.

"Here," she said, passing him a cup of something.

He glanced down to see she had a small thermos in her hand.

"It's hot water and lemon," she explained in response to his slightly confused face. "Only it's not so hot anymore." She added with an awkward smile.

"Thanks," he responded a little taken aback as he reached out to take it from her, he hadn't been expecting her to say that. His brow creased as he eyed the bright, yellow fruit floating in the water.

"It's really good for you, lemon is natures natural cleanser, it boosts your immunity and flushes out toxins…" She explained some more, her sapphire blue eyes watching him as she stopped talking, realizing he was giving her a slightly strange look.

"Right," Daryl muttered, confused still. Not so much by what she was saying, back at the prison he seemed to remember Hershel had mentioned something too about lemon and ginger being good for the flu, although no-one had ever managed to actually get their hands on any kind of citrus fruit. But somehow, she actually had access to the once common but now rare fruit, and was handing it to him casually like it was no big deal.

But Daryl was slowly starting to get used to the fact that the gorgeous blonde stood in front of him now was surprizing him more and more each day.

Slowly, he put the liquid to his dry, cracked lips to drink. It was good, refreshing and zingy, and he could feel it nourishing him as it hit his insides, instantly warming him.

Sienna placed one hand on her hip, the other to her forehead to shield the dazzling early morning sun. "I think it's in that direction..." She remarked, changing the subject suddenly, pointing in the direction the stream was flowing. "Where we found you - where your stuff will be," she explained.

Daryl lowered the cup, "Yeah, reckon you're right," he replied. He had come to the same conclusion. Although this was the first time he had been to this exact spot he had managed to figure out roughy where it was in relation to where he and Aaron had been before.

"Well, we best get going, got a feeling it's going to be a long day," She said, as a fluttering her with the way Daryl's narrow blue eyes were looking at her, almost as though he was subtly trying to work her out.

* * *

They had been walking for hours and Sienna was exhausted as she glanced sideways at Daryl. His face was unreadable and he hadn't spoken to her in a while. She could sense he didn't want to talk and he was debating something. She suspected he was probably holding out hope to find his bike soon.

They had been out here on the edge of the deep woods for most of the day on and off. Sienna and her group were with Daryl and some of Monroe's men, covering the ground leading towards the river back on the route towards where Alexandria was located. Whilst Monroe and the other's had taken a different route heading further south of the area.

Sienna and Daryl had covered a lot of the ground together, and right now the others were all out of sight and it was just the two of them.

It hadn't exactly been a conscious decision on either's part to stick together. Sienna had just quite liked the quiet comfort of Daryl's company. He wasn't constantly joking around like Sam and Louie, or moaning about everything like Amelia, or even throwing her leering glances like Monroe's other guys seemed to do when they were bored. They all meant well, but it was nice to find someone else to work with.

Daryl felt comfortable with Sienna too, she was the person he had spent the most time with. For some reason she had taken the time to get to know him, and she was also the only person that knew about his situation too. That he was from a bigger community that he needed to get back to.

He hadn't mentioned his conversation with Monroe the previous night to her yet though, how he had agreed to help them out here a little more. He wasn't about to go back on that promise straight away, but he also knew that the moment he found his bike and stuff, _if,_ he found his bike, he needed to get back to Rick and the others.

He quickened his pace as they walked on and something subtle on the ground caught his eye.

"You see anything?" Sienna asked, catching up to him.

He ignored her as he crouched down.

"Fire's been put out here recently,' he muttered, his fingers on the ground. "There are tracks too."

"How can you tell?" She asked, moving further towards him looking at the ground in confusion. Her blonde ponytail falling a little over the side of her face as she stood watching him, "There's nothing there."

"Know what I'm looking for," he mumbled, looking up through the edges of his hair to meet her inquisitive gaze.

'How?"

He stood up and wiped his hands, looking away from her. Part of him found her questioning a little annoying, but another part of him, possibly a bigger part, liked being out here with the pretty blonde. He loved being out doors, it was all he'd ever known and being on a one on one with a person out here made him feel strangely closer to them, and also in a weird way responsible for them.

"We should try and find the others, it will be night soon," she said, unfazed by his sullen silence as she started to wonder where everyone else was.

"I'm guessing the river is that way, they should be…" she started, moving away from Daryl, when the sound of a twig snapped from behind the tree's in front of them.

Daryl immediately froze putting his hand out to touch her firmly on the arm, halting her from taking another step. His bold eyes locked with hers as he put his finger up to his lips, warning her not to make another sound.

He slowly crept forwards to investigate the noise, aware she was on on his heels. He reached for his gun, his bare muscular arms holding it up in front of him, aware his reactions would need to be quick should there be any danger.

Pulling back a branch, his heart thundered, before he let out a breath of relief. "Just a couple of damn rabbits," he exclaimed. "If only I had my bow, gotta perfect shot from here," he muttered, watching the small collection of rabbits bounding around in front of him. It was rare to see so many out here exposed in broad day light like this, seemingly so carefree, but he couldn't waste a bullet on one - not when they had food already.

"There's a group of them," Sienna exclaimed excitedly, watching them, "They look like they're all on an adventure to find a new home."

Daryl turned to shoot her a confused and unimpressed look, raising an eyebrow.

"Look that one's the leader. It's Hazel, leading them to a new warren," she continued with a smile.

"What the hell?"

"You've never read Watership Down?" She asked, looking at his blank expression.

"It's a classic children's book by Richard Adams, about a group of rabbits searching for a new place to call home after their old one is destroyed. Hazel started out as the quiet one, but he eventually becomes their leader, it's his courage that finds them their new safe warren, leading them through an odyssey of terrors to save himself and his people. It's a great book you should read it sometime."

"Aint go no time to read books bout damn rabbits." He said gruffly.

She smiled, "It doesn't matter that they're rabbits, its what they do that's important."

"Rabbits are good for one thing only, skinning and boiling," he grunted, allowing his eyes to move back over to her face.

"Maybe if you read Watership Down you'd see them in a different light," she responded with a little chuckle, not bothered by his harsh tone, she was enjoying teasing him.

He made another face and turned away.

"Need to see where these trails lead," he mumbled, changing the subject and turning his focus back to the tracks on the ground again.

"The others can't be far, we should really try and find them too," Siena said seriously, following Daryl with Suki by her side as a little panic started to hit her now, as she thought about where her friends had got to.

Daryl didn't say anything, marching on in silence as he concentrated on tracking. They weren't obvious but he could make out the signs of people having been here recently. He suddenly had an uneasy feeling in his stomach.

He slowed down his pace, allowing Sienna to catch him up he looked at the blonde intensely. His eyes travelling down from her face to her waist where her gun was strapped into the belt of her skinny jeans.

"You ever had to kill anyone?" He asked bluntly, his face displaying a small hint of concern.

"No," she replied honestly.

He wasn't sure if he thought that was a good thing or not as he just nodded once in response. Walking on his eyes scanned the area in front of him intensely.

"You think you could?" He asked slowly, glancing back through the hair falling in his eyes.

"If I had to," she responded, stopping for a moment and placing her hands to her lower back as Suki bounded on in front of them.

Sienna had received basic training on how to use a gun, but so far she hadn't been faced with a situation where she'd had to put that into practice, and if she was honest she knew she needed a refresher because she honestly had no idea what she would do if she was actually faced with a situation where she had to kill a living person. Although she was certain she would have been ready to shoot whomever had tied Daryl to the tree the night she had found him, had it come to that.

Again Daryl just nodded once slowly. Allowing his creased eyes to rest on her slightly flushed cheeks. He could tell she was starting to get tired. Trekking like this might be second nature to him, but not everyone had the same stamina he had gained. Once they had investigated this latest trail he knew they needed to re-group with their smaller sub group and work out the plans for the night.

"Come on," he said abruptly, jerking his head to gesture for her to keep up.

"There's more here," he muttered to himself, as his eyes picked up some more obvious tracks in the ground.

"You reckon it's the same group?" She asked, walking directly by his side. "They say they're the worst group yet, been raping and torturing whole camps - killing everyone they come across. This whole place is just a playground for psychopaths like them."

He didn't respond.

"You must have seen it?" She asked curiously, her blue eyes wide.

"Seen a lot of bad shit," he mumbled, his voice rough and low, as he turned away to avert her gaze. It wasn't something he wanted to elaborate on. The things he had seen, experienced and had to do since the start of the outbreak.

Sienna sensed not to push it as they carried on in silence again.

Looking into the distance Daryl's heart suddenly sank, an intense burst of adrenaline flooding his system as he quite clearly made out the outline of a body tied to a tree.

"Is that?" Sienna asked shakily, fearing the worst. As Suki barked loudly beside her.

Daryl wanted to tell her to stay back but he knew there was little point, she wasn't his responsibility. It wasn't his place to prevent her from seeing horrors like this, they were a part of life now.

He was more worried about who it was tied to the tree, on a closer inspection it was clear it was a woman. Matted long, auburn coloured hair draped down her battered, filthy face, her clothes were torn and covered in dirt and dried blood, and her insides had been ripped open with a visible W carved into her forehead.

Sienna put her hand up to cover her mouth in horror as they got closer, her eyes full of shock.

"We should get her down," she said.

"No point," Daryl responded bluntly.

"There is always a point," she argued, her eyes flashing at him.

He screwed his face up as he looked over the dead girl again, ignoring Sienna. He had thought he was de-sensitised to this kind of sight, but deep down there was something about this girl that hit him hard. She had meant something to someone once and now she had ended up like this.

He swallowed, debating what to say next.

"There you are," a female voice said loudly, breaking the tense silence. "We thought we heard Suki barking. Where have you guys been?"

Both Daryl and Sienna looked over to see Amelia and Sam striding towards them through the trees.

"Whoa, looks like someone had a bad day," Amelia gasped, suddenly noticing the corpse tied to the tree.

"That is something else," Sam exclaimed excitedly, before reaching for the camera around his neck to start taking photographs from different angles. He saw witnessing death and infected people, along with wandering blindly into the path of danger as being an inevitable side effect of what they did now in their job as journalists

A deep scowl formed on Daryl's face as he grunted gruffly, "You people are something else."

Sam raised an eyebrow as he looked through the shots on his camera.

"Where are the others?" Sienna asked.

"Louie went off with Jenkins, Kyle, and the other's, we said we'd meet them at the nearest check point," Sam explained. "You reckon we could film here?" He asked changing the subject as he looked back at the body with interest.

"That would be over 30 miles away from here, by foot we'd be lucky to make it by midnight," Sienna responded, ignoring his last comment. She looked back to Daryl who was stood by her side.

Daryl shrugged. If he was on his own, he'd have no problem walking on through the night or just making up a camp out here in the open, but he could tell these people weren't so used to that.

"We could head back to the vehicles and drive to the nearest check point, meet them there," Amelia suggested.

Sienna nodded. "I'll try and message Louie on my radio," she added. She didn't like the fact Louie wasn't with them, but she knew he would be fine with Jenkins, Munroe's right hand man and Kyle knew how to take care of himself too.

She glanced down at her radio, 'Damn, it's not working," she exclaimed. They had all been issued with phones, a cross between a radio and a cell, as a way of contacting each other. They ran off basic satellite signals a similar technology to satellite navigation systems, but they were pretty temperamental.

"They've been down all day," Sam said.

Sienna cursed as she started fiddling round with the device in her hands, her blonde hair falling across her face.

"If anyone can fix it you can," Sam said turning to Daryl to explain, "She's a techie."

"It's true, I'm a geek, " she added, looking up, "But I need light to be able to look at this thing properly."

"We should probably get moving," Daryl spoke up, glancing at the grey skies and then back again at the dead woman. Her head was hanging low, blood spilling from her forehead, she wasn't going to turn now. She was dead. There was nothing they could do for her, except make sure they didn't meet the same horrific fate.

"Back the way we came- there was that house," Sienna said to Daryl, remembering the ruins of an old house they had passed earlier. It had given her the creeps a little, but it seemed like a more appealing option than trekking further through the creepy woods when there were potential, psychopathic killers on the loose.

* * *

Daryl pushed opened the door to the old abandoned house. Sections of ceiling were hanging limp in the stagnant air and fragments of plaster were lying damp over a long untrodden floor. He paused to listen for any noises. A couple of seconds later, satisfied it was empty, he waved them all through. The rotting, wooden door creaked slowly open and their echoing footsteps invaded the silence that hung like a cloak around the house. A thick carpet of dust clung to every object.

Carefully the four of them made their way inside. Rubbish was piled high in every room. Broken furniture, old suitcases, racks of torn clothes and papers. The windows were rotten and blistered, and the wall paper was peeled. All around the artifacts of a life lived and hastily abandoned, mattresses, dolls, sepia photographs...

Daryl started to move deliberately, dust billowing into clouds as he passed. He stopped to rifle through some cupboards as Sienna followed him into a room at the top of the stairs.

"What are you doing?' She asked, watching him.

"Seeing what's left," he answered without stopping or looking up.

"We don't need anything from here," she responded a little confused.

He paused and turned to look at the confusion and curiosity flickering in her blue eyes; reminding him they were from different worlds. It wasn't just her accent or the fact that she'd never actually had to fire a gun at another human being. It was the fact she had no real idea what they had to do to survive. _Really survive!_

"You gonna take a photo of me? Interview me for your blog," he snapped brusquely.

Her eyes glared, poised to say something else, when she suddenly stopped, hearing Amelia yell something out from the next room.

" _Holy shit."_

Closely followed by Daryl, Sienna darted into the next room to find her friend stood over a large, dusty but still immaculately made up four poster bed.

"We get to do ' _it'_ in an actual bed tonight," Amelia said looking over at Sam with a suggestive smirk and mischievous twinkle in her dark eyes.

Sienna groaned and looked away, her eyes drifting to Daryl's slightly clueless face. If he hadn't worked it out yet, he would soon. Amelia and Sam were 'fuck-buddies'. Sometimes Sienna thought Sam wanted something more from the outspoken doctor, Amelia possibly too, but they kept it causal.

"Sorry, but we saw it first," Amelia gloated, looking to Sienna. "We could always y'know swap for a bit, and you could have it before we leave," she said looking at both Sienna and Daryl this time as they both blushed. "To obviously just get some proper sleep …" Amelia added hastily.

This time Daryl's cheeks noticeably turned a little pink as he twigged what was going on.

'I'd rather sleep on the hard floor," Sienna quickly responded, rolling her eyes. " _Perfect_ ," she added under her breath sarcastically. Daryl was being a moody ass all of a sudden, and her friends were about to jump on each other. At least she still had her dog she thought as she said loudly, "Come on Suks."

* * *

"Guess we're staying here for the night then," Sienna said to Daryl as the two of them sat back in the first room at the top of the stairs. The night outside had turned completely dark now and there was a new chill to the air. They were sat next to each other by an old empty fireplace.

"You'll probably find your stuff tomorrow," she commented, to a sullen Daryl.

Sienna was a little annoyed with him still, but she couldn't deny she was glad he was there, she didn't fancy being in this big, derelict room on her own.

He nodded in silent acknowledgement to her comment.

"I'll try and get in touch with the others," she added quietly. Realizing she wasn't about to get much conversation out of him, she picked up her radio to fiddle with it again, before placing it down. "Can't see anything wrong with it. Maybe it just needs charging."

"We should be okay here for the night," Daryl eventually mumbled, watching her carefully trying to fix it. "Stayed in worst places."

"Yeah," she agreed, pulling her backpack off and throwing it down on the ground. "It will be fine. This is a safe zone still after all."

She shivered and took a red hoodie out of her backpack to put on, reaching up she pulled it over her head, giving Daryl the perfect view of the outline to her full breasts in her white t-shirt.

He looked away embarrassed with himself for staring, as she shook her blonde hair out over the hood. He didn't do that. It wasn't his style to look at a girl like that. What was it about this damn woman that was causing him to act so out of character? He looked back at her, to feel a tingle of electricity shoot through him with the way she gave him a shy smile in return. Damn, she turned him on without even really doing anything, whether he liked it or not. When he should be on alert for threats out here in the middle of a potentially, dangerous and abandoned house like this too.

As if Daryl needed any more reminding he was sexually frustrated - a bang followed by some groaning, erupted from the room next door.

Sienna wrapped her arms around herself, an uncomfortable look crossing her face too as she let out an embarrassed laugh. "We could try and get this fire going," she suggested, looking to the old fireplace before gathering up a few old papers and tossing them in.

Daryl moved to help her, neither of them speaking as the noise of Amelia and Sam making out in the next room continued. Making them feel more and more awkward and uncomfortable.

…

"Drink?" Sienna said, offering Daryl a hip flask, after they had both settled around their now fully lit fire. A few candles they'd found, offering a little more light in the darkness too.

"That all you people do, drink?" he responded.

She quirked a brow as she took a sip, before handing it to him. "We're European, it's in our culture," she quipped back. "I have Irish heritage too," she added with a chuckle. The flask had actually been one of Alex's that she'd 'borrowed' from him that morning, before he'd set off in the opposite direction with the other group.

"I know plenty of people from Georgia, that made it their culture too," he responded with a dry smirk, taking the flask from her to put to his mouth to take a swig of the pungent liquor too. Enjoying the deep burn as it slid down his throat.

"That where you're from, Georgia?" She asked, her blue eyes widening.

He nodded.

"I've never been, I'd like to. What's it like?"

He shrugged. "Aint anywhere you'd wanna visit now," he dismissed, handing her back her flask. She took a small sip before offering it back to him.

He looked at her briefly meeting her eye, her blonde hair was illuminated by the soft glow of the orange flames from the fire, and her eyes were bright and sparky. He wanted to ask her what England was like too, but he couldn't quite seem to find the words.

Instead he took the flask from her again, chugging it back more freely as they sat in silence for a moment. The alcohol creating a buzz in him, relaxing him a little as he gazed at their make shift fire, drowning out the sound of the other two in the next room.

"This feel's weird, but maybe this is how we're meant to live now," she said dreamily, breaking the silence as she took the flask back. "Drinking, smoking, getting high and doing whatever we want. Eating proper foods from the earth, rather than processed junk. Maybe, the irony is people will actually wind up healthier in the long run. Learn to evaluate what's real and important. Things will turn around for the better eventually."

Daryl narrowed his eyes, his hair in his vision slightly as he turned to give her a slightly bemused look. Handing her back the flask.

"I know, I know...I can talk a lot of weird stuff sometimes," she said with a nervous laugh in response to his stare, she brushed at a loose lock of her blonde hair falling into her eye.

"Aint weird," Daryl muttered.

"Well, I've always looked at the world a little differently to most people and been a little 'weird' I guess. But then all the best people are. My family were slightly weird, my friends were weird in a good way, I married weird."

She stopped talking, and Daryl flinched instantly. _She was married!_

He didn't know why he found that so surprizing or why it effected him so much. Maybe because she had never mentioned a husband or given any indication that was the case, he had just presumed she wasn't. But he couldn't deny she was physically very easy on the eye, and so far she seemed like a good person too- so of course it made sense she would be married, someone else's girl.

"You're married?" He found himself asking before he had the chance to think about it. As he threw another stack of paper into the fire.

 _"Was_ married," she corrected, looking at the fire as it sparked up again with the fresh load of paper thrown in to it.

Daryl pressed his lips together and cleared his throat, again he seemed to have no control over the words falling out of his mouth as he asked simply, "He die?"

She nodded, "Yeah."

"Sorry," he responded. His face displaying genuine empathy.

"We all have a story to tell, right?" She replied a little shakily, forcing a smile.

He nodded slowly. He knew that better than anyone.

"It was right at the start of all this. The irony was he saw it all before anyone else. For years he kept saying something big was going to happen to dramatically reduce the worlds population. But everyone said he was crazy. Then the first week things started to change; people panicking, services shutting down, military on the streets - he went out in the car to try and get us some supplies and he never came back. His car was hit by a truck…...just like that." She gulped the flask back as she stopped talking.

Daryl's expressive, lined blue eyes fixed on her face, searching for something to say. But she was right, her story was by no means unusual. He thought of Rick, Carol ..To still have your spouse in this day and age, that was more unusual.

"It seems like another world now though," she continued, breaking the silence, "A different life- because you have to keep going. You have to keep moving forwards. Back then... it just seems like a distant memory… Now it's just me and Suk's," she said with another reflective smile as she reached to pat the head of her dog lazed out by the fire next to her. That was all she was prepared to say for now, as she felt her eyes glisten with unshed tears.

She handed Daryl back the flask. "How about you?" She asked curiously, sitting back on her hands, shuffling a little close to where he was sat to get comfortable and warm nearer the fire. "You married? Kids?"

He took a swig of the liquor. "Nah, it's just me."

She looked into his eyes and she could quite clearly see, far from holding a sadness there of a lost love like most people did nowadays, they just looked empty and lost in a different way, which made her sad. It was clear that despite what she had previously thought, he wasn't trying to get back to anyone special in particular and he wasn't holding a torch for anyone either.

"Best that way, right?" She said kindly. "You don't have to think about anyone else... no-one to answer to."

He jerked his head once in agreement, as he thought how his whole life it had always just been him and Merle. They'd had no real responsibilities, being able to live from one day to the next exactly as they liked. Two redneck assholes.

He swallowed hard, the person he had been back then was fading away. He was slowly coming to realize that. Now he did have people he cared about.

Sienna knew not to force the conversation anymore as she yawned and stretched her hands up above her head. "Sounds like they're finally finished next door - for now," she joked.

"Get some rest if you like. I'll keep watch," Daryl mumbled at her.

"You sure? Place seems pretty secure we could both sleep?"

"Nah, I'm good," he replied, taking one last swig from the flask before putting in back on the ground, stopping himself from drinking more. He was buzzed enough to feel warm and content, that was enough for him tonight.

He looked away as she pulled an old mattress out from the other side of the room. She rolled her compact sleeping back out of her backpack and wriggled into it fully clothed still to Daryl's relief. He thought his eyes might pop out of his head if she removed any more layers now here in front of him.

Minutes later her eyes were closed and she was asleep.

Still up, Daryl took the opportunity to stare at her across the dimly, candle lit room. Her eyelashes were fluttering as she dozed and her blonde hair was falling out of it's ponytail framing her face. She looked so serene all of a sudden and Daryl didn't think he had seen a more beautiful sight.

It stirred some strange emotions in him, being here in this kind of environment again, alone with just a cheery blonde girl for company. Although, Sienna wasn't so much a girl, he wasn't sure exactly of her age but he was guessing late 20's, possibly older. He liked that. He hadn't known the British girl long, and it unnerved him a little, but being here in this strange place with the blonde was almost starting to feel normal to him. Like on some kind of level he was finding a place he was meant to be...

 **A/N - Thanks for reading, please leave a review :)**


	10. TEN

**A/N - Thanks as always for reading and reviewing. For those asking about my Bethyl stories, until they are listed as complete I am always planning to continue them. I am working on an update to 'Fight our desires', but I'm not quite happy with it yet! I am hoping with the show returns soon, I'll get back in to it!**

 **This chap is a long one, it was originally meant to be two, but I felt it worked better as one and it just kept writing itself!**

 **(Just to warn you too, the next chapter after this is likely to be M! So I will put the rating up, if you don't log in, to read it!)**

* * *

Daryl's boots crunched through the early morning forest track, the sun having barely just come up, the pine trees were a black silhouette against the brilliant rising gold sky. He took a deep satisfying breath in, the air felt fresh and new as a gentle breeze caressed his tired skin. He looked to his side to see his new companion trotting along beside him faithfully. It was just the two of them, him and Suki. He had left Sienna and the other two still sleeping back at the run-down house they had taken shelter in the night before.

Normally, Daryl liked to go out on these early morning trips completely alone - but Suki's pleading eyes had gotten the better of him as he'd crept out earlier and he'd allowed her to join him, finding there really was nothing quite like the quiet companionship of an animal out here.

...

Sensing a sound, he suddenly stopped walking to raise his gun, just as two more rabbits like the ones he had seen the day before with Sienna, bounded past him at lightening speed. He lowered his gun and relaxed. He glanced down to see Suki's ears had pricked up too, her ice blue eyes questioning Daryl as the rabbits disappeared away from sight.

"Aint much of a hunter, are ya girl?" Daryl remarked, looking at the dog with a smirk.

'Damn creatures,' he muttered under his breath. _Why were there so many of them out here now?_ Normally, you were lucky to come across one, but this must have been the third time he had come across a group of them in the past couple of days. Right before his eyes, just taunting him, seeing as he didn't have his crossbow - or a collection of hungry group members to hunt for and feed now either.

His stomach suddenly growled, reminding him he hadn't eaten yet. "Come on girl," he said loudly, cocking his head to Suki to follow. He turned back in the direction he had come, back to his temporary group. Between them they had plenty of food and water to last the next couple of days, there was no pressing need for him to hunt here. He had just wanted some air.

* * *

Quietly, he opened the front door. He took a step inside to hear movement coming from up the stairs.

He wandered further in and up the old rickety staircase, stopping outside the room he had stayed in with Sienna the night before. He waited a second, then cautiously pushed the door a tiny crack to open it. Averting his eyes from looking straight in, he called out, "Y'decent?" Not wanting to catch her in any state of undress.

"You're back?" It was Amelia that spoke.

Daryl walked further into the room to find Amelia was in there and not Sienna, and she had sounded half-surprized, like she had thought there was a chance that he wouldn't have returned.

He wanted to snap something back, but instead he brushed at his long scruffy hair and responded, "Where's Sienna?"

"She's getting cleaned up. I'm just sorting out our food supplies. We should head off soon," Amelia replied.

Daryl nodded in agreement.

"Breakfast?" The brunette offered, handing him a sachet of some kind of freeze dried food.

"Thanks," Daryl replied gratefully as she gave it to him, passing him at the same time to leave the room.

Alone in the room he tore off the wrapper to eat hungrily. In between mouthfuls he looked up to Sienna coming back into the room, a waft of something sweet and fresh filling the air with her.

"You're back," she said too, looking at him with her wide blue eyes.

"Yeah, never said I was leaving, did I?" he mumbled. Did they really think he would just take off now without saying goodbye?

"There's no running water here, but I have soap," she said ignoring his last comment. She patted Suki affectionately, before packing a bottle of water in to her bag. "If you want it?" she added, quietly placing the soap down beside him.

He shrugged, still chewing on a mouthful of food. Washing had never been Daryl's top priority, even before the outbreak. But something was actually making him want to contemplate cleaning up a little right now. He knew he was filthy again. "Thanks," he eventually replied finishing his mouthful and glancing at the soap out of the corner of his eye.

"I managed to radio the others," she said, scooping her long blonde hair up into a messy ponytail. "They said to meet them later at the nearest check point."

A silence fell between them and their eyes met. Sienna wanted to ask him if he was planning on going with them, or moving on alone. She bit her lip, waiting for him to say something.

Daryl swallowed, lowering his head slightly. He still hadn't figured out what his exact plans were.

He knew his bike and bow wouldn't be far away, but he also had a nagging feeling he wasn't ready to leave Sienna, Suki and the other's just yet. Monroe was expecting him back - Daryl knew he didn't owe the former CIA guy anything yet -but Monroe, just like Rick and more recently Aaron too, had believed in Daryl, something he didn't take lightly.

"I'll meet ya outside," he mumbled, picking up his bag and jerking his head to the door, breaking the awkward silence and buying himself some more time.

* * *

After walking for hours, they finally stopped by the river to take a break. Sienna smoothed her hair away from her eyes, and reached deep into her backpack to bring out out a silver wrapper.

"Is that chocolate?" Amelia asked wide eyed, from where she was sat next to her by the water.

"Yeah- I was going to save it, but what the hell," Sienna replied, breaking off a square and placing it between her lips. Allowing the rich, smooth flavour to melt in her mouth as she savoured the taste.

"It's not the good stuff. But it's chocolate," Sienna remarked with a half smile, offering it to Amelia. Who took it and broke off a square.

"What is it with girls and chocolate?" Sam asked with a grin.

Sienna didn't say anything, as she offered it to him and he shook his head. "No thanks, I don't have a sweet tooth."

She turned to glance at Daryl who was sat a little behind her, propped up on his elbows he had been quietly watching them. She tilted her head back, to get a better look at him. "Want some?" she offered.

"Thanks," he replied. He shoved his hair back from his face and leaned forwards to take some from her, unintentionally brushing the soft skin on her hand with his rough fingers as he did so, triggering a small tingle to pulse through them both.

...

The four of them had been trekking most of the day and had stopped to take a break on Sienna's suggestion - right by the same river they'd been at when they had saved Daryl and Aaron.

Amelia turned her attention to an amused Sam and responded to his earlier comment, "Chocolate stimulates the release of endorphins, making you feel good, it exists in the same world as sex."

"Seems as though a guy could get a girl to do anything if he's got a truck load of the stuff," Sam joked some more.

"Mmm...Well I haven't had any kind of chocolate in a _long_ time," Amelia exclaimed ignoring him as she broke off another square.

"Me neither, I was saving this," Sienna agreed. "How about you, Daryl?" she asked, turning back to look at him again, her blue eyed gaze playful. "When was the last time you had chocolate?"

He gave a half shrug, covering his mouth with his hand. He couldn't actually recall the last time he'd tasted the sweet confectionary himself. But he had come across it every now and again out on runs back at the prison, and Sam was right, the females of his group had seemed to go crazy for it, so he'd always just given it to them - mainly Carol, or Maggie and Beth.

"Guess it was pretty hard to come by?" Sienna questioned some more.

"It's still around if you're lucky enough. I come across it from time to time, if I can find it, I'll get you some…the good stuff," Daryl found himself replying without thinking - regretting it slightly when he noticed her cheeks turning slightly pink as their eyes locked briefly. He hadn't meant anything underlying by saying that.

"Well, _there's_ an offer," Amelia quipped, raising a brow.

Daryl turned in Sam's direction to see the other guy just give him a look.

Sienna looked away to fasten up her bag, unable to stop the slight thrill she had gotten from the usually sullen Daryl saying that to her, there was definitely a softer side in there somewhere. "We best get moving," she said, snapping them back to reality, as she tightened her ponytail and jumped to her feet.

* * *

"Through here," Daryl instructed, as they followed the trail by the river. It was weird to think that this was the same location that he had originally noticed Sienna and her group at. He had found their presence so alien back then. Now here he was amongst them and they looked to be taking _his_ lead, as though it was nothing out of the ordinary.

It had been the same the previous day too, when all of his smaller subgroup had been there. He had naturally taken the lead, utilising his extensive knowledge of the land and how to track to guide them.

...

Now it was just the four of them, Daryl and Sienna, and Amelia and Sam.

They stopped walking as they reached a fork in the path. Sienna looked to Daryl, she knew that taking the path sloping upwards would lead to the exact same point that she, Sam and Louie, had found him and Aaron not so long ago.

Daryl's creased blue eyes met her larger blue ones, reflecting an unspoken communication between them. He'd had a hunch that taking the path she was nearest to, was where she had picked him up - and the look on her face confirmed it.

"This way, isn't it?" Sam suddenly said, gesturing with his hand to the other path.

Daryl didn't respond, his eyes on Sienna still.

"You guys go that way, we'll catch you up," she said quickly. "There's something we wanted to check out up here."

"You sure?" Sam replied. His eyes filling with concern as he looked at her.

She nodded. "Yeah, we won't be long, there's just something back there, isn't there?" She looked to Daryl.

"Yeah," he said in a low voice. He knew he should try and persuade her to go the other way, but he couldn't bring himself to somehow. Telling himself he needed her to confirm the way. That was all.

Sam turned his attention to Daryl, "Okay," he responded, his face serious.

Sam didn't have to say anything else, the look on his face was enough to convey to Daryl to take care of her. Daryl knew Sam cared about Sienna a lot, and to him Daryl was a relative stranger, someone to be wary of still, his intentions unknown. But Daryl could also tell, although they hadn't known each other long, Sam did trust him on some level, for which Daryl was grateful.

Sienna turned to her dog, "Suks go with Sam," she said quietly. Something was telling Sienna it would be quicker without her faithful friend by her side, the big dog would be of more use to her friends this time than to her and Daryl.

* * *

Conscious it was now just the two of them Daryl slowed his pace to match Sienna's, and he caught sight of a tree in front of them, causing his blood to suddenly run cold. It wasn't just any tree. It was the exact same tree he had been tied captive to just weeks before. The tree he had felt certain he would die on.

"It was right here, I recognize the markings on that trunk," Sienna exclaimed. Confirming they were right back to where they had first met.

Daryl looked away from the sinister looking tree, to the face of the beautiful blonde that had so unexpectedly saved his life here, and it hit him how lucky he'd been.

The sky above was turning a dull grey again, almost like the whole area around them was filling with darkness. Sienna shivered, as memories of a half dead, Daryl and Aaron, flooded back to her.

Daryl turned away to start scanning the surrounding area for his things.

Surprisingly he didn't even have to look that hard, propped up against a shaded tree he saw his black bag and crossbow, camouflaged by the dark greenery around it, just as he was always careful to leave them. No-one had found them.

He rushed towards them, a delighted grin spreading across his face as he picked up his crossbow first to examine it carefully. By some complete and utter miracle it looked as though it hadn't been touched or damaged at all by the elements.

"That yours?" Sienna asked curiously, a little bemused, she had never seen him smile like that before and it was infectious as she found herself smiling too.

"Mmm…" Daryl mumbled as he inspected it carefully.

He turned his attention to his bag. It appeared not to have been touched either. It was a little wet and smelled of damp and earth, but opening it up it was clear his few belongings hadn't been touched either. His one change of clothes - another tattered shirt and trousers. A water bottle, a couple of emergency packets of food, a flash light, compass, crumpled packet of cigarettes and lastly tucked right down at the bottom he could see the corners of a book, the book he had taken from the 'woman's shelter' that night in Atlanta with Carol looking for Beth. He hadn't looked at it yet, but he had kept it all the same.

They weren't much, but they were ' _his'_ belongings.

"Everything still there?" Sienna asked, watching him as he silently looked through them.

"Yeah," he replied, doing his bag back up and throwing his crossbow over his shoulder. "Aint been touched."

She arched a brow, surprise crossing her features. "Guess they never came back."

"Guess not."

"My bike's not far away either," he mumbled too, excitedly.

If he had been honest, Daryl had been preparing himself to find his crossbow gone forever. Now he had it back, he had every hope his bike would be intact still too, enabling him to make it back to his people.

He led the way back to the hidden road he had left his ride. A new spring in his step, it was as though his whole demeanour had changed, with his trusty weapon back in his hands he felt more confident and ready to face whatever dangers might be waiting. More like himself again. Losing it had felt as though his arm had been cut off.

Sienna could tell he was happier now he had his found his belongings. She watched as he suddenly fired at something moving on the ground. He darted over to tug an arrow out of a small squirrel. He was impressive at this, she thought, no wonder he had survived as long as he had.

"You're a pro," she exclaimed, sliding a hand to her hip, as he proudly held up the dead animal. "You make it look so easy."

He smirked, throwing the dead squirrel over his shoulder like a trophy. "Come on," he said, jerking his head for her to follow.

They wandered on in silence.

"You ever feel like you're on the hunt for the white rabbit out here? Just endlessly going round in circles trying to keep your head," she suddenly blurted out breaking the silence.

He screwed his face up, throwing her a look that said _'what the hell?"_

"Alice in Wonderland!" She explained. "The search for the white rabbit."

"More books." He rolled his eyes, his tone playful.

"You must have read it?"

"I read it," he mumbled.

He'd actually just watched the cartoon, secretly enjoying it every time it had been shown on television when he'd been a young boy and he'd been alone in the house. If he was honest he'd kind of had a slight crush on cartoon Alice.

"What?" Sienna asked, noticing him giving her a strange look as they walked on.

He continued to look at her, but didn't say anything.

"What?" She asked again. Feeling a little self conscious under his gaze, she blushed.

"Nothin," he responded looking away, his lips curling up into a half smile.

"I know… I come out with really random stuff when I'm bored. But what can I say? I'm bookish and a bit of a geek," she said, still blushing a bit. It reminded her a little of when she'd been younger and wanted the cool guys to notice her, so had nervously always come out with the wrong things, in her eyes making them think she was a complete weirdo.

But Daryl was nothing like those guys, she didn't know him that well still, but she knew that.

...

They carried on in silence again. Daryl found himself missing the sound of her voice. He might not have shown it, but he liked listening to her talk, it didn't irritate him like most people did, and he found himself slowing his pace to walk along beside her. He wasn't quite close enough to touch her, but a part of him wanted to, as an electricity lingered in the air between them.

His eyes half hidden by his hair flicked sideways to steal a small glance at her blonde hair and womanly figure in her fitted jeans and tank top - and he quickly looked away again and back at the track ahead leading to the road. He was in a good mood now he had found his cross-bow and he had to admit he liked having her here with him.

He didn't say anything to break the silence as the road came fully into sight and instead he rushed ahead to the small hidden lay-by where he had parked his bike weeks before. Finding, miraculously like his crossbow - _it was still there, untouched too!_ The new bike he had quietly spent days building locked away in Aaron and Eric's garage back at Alexandria.

He ran his hands over the smooth cold metal. He was home! _Almost!_ He knew he could just ride off into the sunset now, anywhere he wanted. But he couldn't ignore a nagging feeling that he wasn't quite ready to do that yet and something wasn't quite right.

"You're on a winning streak," Sienna smiled. Coming up beside him.

He turned back to face her. "Can't believe it hasn't been touched."

"You hid it well."

He grinned, his eyes crinkling at the corners and lighting up for once. He hadn't had much luck recently, but it seemed possibly things were looking up for him. _Possibly._

They looked at each other for a moment more. The sight of the woman in front of him - her big kind blue eyes, natural prettiness and shy smile - were once again stirring something in Daryl. In that brief moment the rest of his world became an unimportant blur that was banished into the far recesses of his mind.

 _He knew he didn't want to leave her._

Sienna felt herself slowly gravitate towards him. A fluttering spreading over her with the way he was looking at her. The gruff and quiet guy with the brooding good looks, she had grown so fond of. She knew he didn't know how to show it, but on some level he had grown to care about her she could tell.

She shivered and wrapped an arm around herself. Glancing up at the sky to see grey clouds rolling over, threatening rain and the imminent fall of night. Sienna knew Daryl's community was in the opposite direction to where she needed to meet Sam, Amelia and the others. If this was goodbye, then she wanted it to be quick.

"I guess this is goodbye then," she said, her blue eyes blinking as she looked back at him. A sudden breeze blowing her hair across her face.

Daryl looked to the darkening, empty stretch of road ahead. He knew there was no way he could let her go back alone, it was too risky, especially when the only reason she was here in the first place was to help him.

"You can't go back on your own," he said. "I'll go with you."

"I'll be okay, the nearest vehicle is only a little further up the road. Sam and Amelia should be there," she replied. She knew roughly where the nearest vehicle would have been left, and she wasn't exactly thrilled about heading up there on her own but she didn't want to be a burden to Daryl either.

"Aint negotiable," he responded forcefully. Swinging his leg on to his bike, revving the engine.

She stared at him.

He moved his head once, indicating for her to join him. "Get on."

Carefully she straddled the back of his bike, wrapping her arms around his waist. The instant feel of his muscular body next to hers felt good.

Seconds later they were speeding down the road.

* * *

"Thanks," Sienna said, as they both climbed off the bike by a pick up truck. It belonged to the military, it was left there for people like herself to use, possibly by someone in Monroe's team.

Daryl nodded as he looked at the vehicle and the ground around it. It was deserted, no-one had been around for a while.

"You don't need to stay if you don't want to, I'll drive to the nearest check point and meet them there." Sienna said, catching his eye.

Daryl put his hand up to stroke his beard. He thought about his group back in Alexandria and what would be waiting for him back there. They would possibly be starting to question where he and Aaron where, but he wondered whether enough time had lapsed for them to be seriously concerned as to his whereabouts. If they would just be carrying on as normal.

He then thought about his promise to Monroe to lead the subgroup and report back to him. Daryl didn't like breaking promises. Then he thought about Sienna and how much he had enjoyed spending time with her…...He had wanted to leave his options open, so he had been deliberately cagey with her about his plans before he'd found his belongings. But now there was no excuse. _He had a dilemma._

Before either of them could say anything else the black clouds above suddenly gave way to an instant and heavy down-pour of rain. Thick drops pelting all around them. A storm had started.

"Quick," Daryl yelled, water dripping off his hair as he lowered the ramp on the back of the truck to enable him to hoist his bike up on to it. "Get inside. We need to move on. This area will flood."

Making his way to the driver side, he climbed in, setting to work on hot-wiring the engine. He knew they needed to move on from this spot, and they also needed to stick together now. It was too dangerous otherwise.

"What are you doing?" Sienna asked. Reaching under the passenger seat to pass him the keys. "They're stored here," she explained.

He took them and mumbled something to her. Shaking his hair slightly to get the moisture off, he started the engine, the rain still lashing violently outside the window as they drove away, the night drawing in and turning darker by the second.

"Looks like the heavens have opened," Daryl remarked trying to lighten the mood. He could tell she was worried about where Sam and Amelia were now, and she felt bad they were going on without them.

She didn't reply, looking out the window with her chin rested in her hand.

"This things got some speed." Daryl said as he put his foot down. Daryl was used to the roads being completely empty these days, having to share the roads with other vehicles and obey speed limits was a distant memory.

Sienna ignored him, face down now rifling through some CD's left in the door.

"Whoever drove this last, had some shit taste in music," she said, holding up a 'Best of Country' disc.

Daryl shrugged, "Don't mind a bit of that, stick it on."

She made a face and slid it into the player, she adjusted the volume as, 'Stand by your man', blasted out.

"One thing I don't miss about being married - the arguments about music," she joked. Watching him as he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, making her smile a little. She wouldn't have had him down for a Tammy Wynette fan.

He brushed his hair out of his eyes and shot her a look, "You miss him?" Something made him say, in response to her reference to her late husband.

She put her thumbnail up to her mouth to chew on it, turning to meet his gaze, her eyes suddenly glossy. "Mmm... but that part of my life just feel's like a distant dream now. I'll never forget. But you have to live in the present…You have to believe there's a purpose that you're still here and they're not, no matter how much the people in your life before meant to you!"

Daryl nodded in silent agreement, turning his gaze back to the empty road ahead as he processed what she had said.

Sienna pressed her lips together, digging her nails into her palm. There was something that she had been wanting to ask him ever since the night they had brought him in. She knew now that he didn't have a wife or girlfriend. But something else had been bugging her. _Something he'd said!_

She turned to look at him, her shimmering blue eyes wide and curious, "You had someone that meant something too?"

His face turned blank, not sure what she was getting at exactly.

She carried on hesitantly, unsure of how he was going to react. "You thought I was her, the night we brought you in - in the helicopter you were calling out for her. Saying you were 'sorry' you told her leave and wait for you."

Daryl swallowed and sadness clouded his features as a deep pang of emotion hit him. _Beth! Sweet, young Beth!_ The nightmares were less frequent now, but they were still there, sometimes in his darker moments he thought they always would be. That moment he had lost her, he had failed her. Never in his life had losing someone hit him so hard. Not his mother, his brother - Sophia or Andrea even. With Beth he had been so close to saving her, to getting her back and in his eyes he had let her down. Her life had ended before it had even begun.

"Weren't like that," he muttered a little gruffly. He knew what Sienna was thinking and she was wrong. Beth had just been a young girl. Hershel's daughter and a member of their group.

"Doesn't matter what it was like. If it meant something, it meant something," she said softly. She could tell there was a story there, but not one that he was ready to tell anytime soon.

Daryl felt his jaw tightening. He wasn't prepared to discuss what had happened to Beth with her at that point. Maybe one day, but not right now.

He knew one thing for sure though, his time with Beth, however brief, had taught him he needed to try and let people in more. To realise his potential and leave behind the moody, uptight and defensive guy he had been before. He had to at least try.

He gripped the steering wheel, thinking back to another older blonde, the one sat beside him right now - and he gripped the wheel a little tighter. Knowing full well, he had no intention of leaving her alone this night now.

They drove on in silence.

...

"Slow down," Sienna suddenly exclaimed. Daryl braked, seeing it too. Through the pouring rain there were bright lights coming into sight. It had to be the check point.

It looked as though it had been quite a sizeable hotel out here before. Now it was being used by the military as a 'check point'. They were places manned by them, set up around the country as hubs for shelter and supplies. Daryl also suspected they were used as an opportunity to vet the stragglers of survivors that stumbled across them too. Not that it mattered, to see any kind of civilisation like this, to Daryl, was a god send.

Sienna opened her window as they came to a halt at some gates. A heavily armed guard came across to question her. Daryl didn't hear what he said at first, but he saw her hold up a pass.

The guard nodded, he was a young guy and his expression was harsh but not unkind. "I need you to both hold up your wrists," he instructed, producing a scanner. Sienna held her arm up and it beeped immediately.

He turned his attention to Daryl, who blinked several times before leaning over Sienna to reach his wrist up as well. To his relief it beeped too. The chip he had been fitted with signalled he had been through quarantine and was free from the infection.

The guard nodded, his face softening a little. "You're good. Reception is closed now, but go through to the bar. They'll fix you up." He nodded again and waved them through.

…

Daryl followed behind Sienna closely as they made their way inside, clutching their few belongings.

It was mainly men in the bar, soldiers, bikers and other hardened survivors, and upon the sight of the stunning blonde all eyes turned to Sienna eagerly. Daryl hoped there wouldn't be any trouble as he felt the need to stay close to her. He knew what most of those scumbags would be thinking. What they would want to do to her, given half the chance.

Sienna held her head up as they walked up to the bar. Normally in these kind of situations she tried to shove her long hair under a cap so as not to attract too much attention - out here men far outnumbered women, and right now she couldn't deny that the leering glances of the creepy men around her, weren't making her feel uncomfortable as she tried to pretend otherwise.

She knew the majority would be harmless, just other survivors, aid workers or military. But she also knew she wouldn't hesitate to put her weapons training to use should any of them try anything. She mentally reached for her gun, going over what to do should she need to act fast. She sensed Daryl behind her, she could almost feel his breath on her back. She was glad he was here but she didn't want him to feel he had to be to protect her. She knew first and foremost she needed to protect herself.

"Evening," the guy behind the bar said, nodding in greeting at them. "You got your cards?"

Sienna pulled hers out of her pocket, looking at Daryl to do the same, and they handed them over.

The barman looked at them quickly and nodded, "You looking for a place to stay?"

"Yeah, and we're also looking to meet the rest of our team here," Sienna replied, her face serious.

"No-one new has been through here today," he responded. "But we have a secure line, you're welcome to try and contact them." He gestured with his hand to a phone by the side of the bar.

"I'll be right back," Sienna said to Daryl quietly.

Daryl jerked his head once in silent acknowledgement, watching her go.

The barman turned his back to Daryl and wandered off for a moment. He returned with two plates, covered with some kind of sandwiches. He placed them down in front of Daryl.

"Thanks," Daryl said, still not used to the way the world seemed to work now. You got fitted with a little chip and handed some card, which seemed to entitle you to everything for free.

"No problem my friend - and it's your lucky night. We have one room left, hidden away at the back of the top floor, so you can have some privacy with your girl," he added with a wink.

Daryl didn't reply. He wanted to correct him that Sienna wasn't _his_ girl. But he knew all ears had pricked up curiously and for that reason alone he thought it best to keep up the front that she was. If only to stave off un-wanted attention for her.

He put his sandwich up to his mouth, it tasted good, red meat and onion. He started to devour it, when he saw Sienna coming back.

"I managed to get hold of Louie again," she said, appearing with a relieved smile as she joined Daryl at the bar. "They're meeting Monroe and his guys tomorrow, back at the same spot we left them yesterday, he said to go back then too to find them."

"Sam and Amelia weren't with them though," she added, her smile fading a little, thinking about her friends and her beloved dog, hoping they were okay and hadn't run into any trouble.

Daryl lowered his sandwich from his mouth to stare at her worried eyes. "Okay," he simply said.

Sienna looked from his kind face to the sandwich in front of her. She wasn't particularly hungry but she knew she needed to eat as she put it to her mouth to take a bite.

* * *

Daryl's eyes darted around the room, clutching the key card in his hand, surprized it still worked. He thought he would never set foot in a functioning hotel room again. Not that he had ever stayed anywhere particularly special before. This one was pretty shabby and smelled a little musty, but there was a decent size double bed still, a chair, bedside cabinet and built in wardrobe. There was also a flat screen television attached to the wall.

"Light's work," Sienna exclaimed flicking the switch. "Kind of," she added, as they flickered on and off a little.

"Will be the storm," Daryl said, going over to the window to see the rain was still coming on strong and a few heavy winds had picked up rattling against the glass.

"There's hot water," Sienna yelled from where she had already gone to inspect the bathroom.

She came back into the room to rummage through her bag. "The first thing I am doing is getting out of these dirty clothes and into that shower now," she said. "You mind if I go first?"

"Go ahead," Daryl grunted.

...

Alone in the room, Daryl sank back on the bed, wincing a little he realized he must have pulled a muscle somewhere in his back. It wasn't uncommon, he'd had niggling pains in his back for as long as he could remember, but as he relaxed a little more he could tell this one was particularly nasty. He could have picked it up anywhere.

He reached for the TV remote, thinking he'd be amazed if it worked and even more amazed if there was anything worth watching.

The picture came on immediately. Only two channels worked, one was a news channel that was so fuzzy it was impossible to make out any picture. The other, a black and white movie - so he settled on that.

He closed his eyes, satisfied the place was secure enough to allow him to do so, just as the loud sound of the shower being switched on came through the walls, followed by Sienna letting out a blood curdling scream.

Within seconds Daryl was fully awake and on his feet. He pressed his face to the closed door, hesitating first before he went to barge in. "You okay?" He shouted out.

The door abruptly swung open and his eyes nearly popped out of his head at the sight of Sienna standing in front of him, with nothing but a small towel wrapped around her shapely body. Her long blonde hair falling loosely around her naked shoulders.

He averted his gaze as a flush crept up his cheeks.

"No," she exclaimed. "There's a freaking spider." She stepped back and pointed to a particularly large looking, thick black spider crawling up the wall next to the now steamed up mirror.

Daryl screwed up his face, rolling his eyes as he realized she was actually being serious and she had called him in there just for that.

He shook his head, looking back to see she was even shaking slightly. "It's just a damn spider," he muttered, walking past her and straight over to grab it in one fist, opening the window to shake it out into the dark stormy night. "It aint gonna hurt ya...You got a lot worse things to fear than that," he said with amused eyes and a smirk as he passed her.

"Thanks," she said, relieved and slightly embarrassed.

He didn't say anything more as he left her to carry on with her shower.

...

Alone again, shutting out the sound of the shower and any thoughts of a naked Sienna in it, Daryl sat down on the bed. He let out a long breath and placed his hands to the back of his neck. He ached all over and now he was presented with the chance to relax a little, he knew his body was telling him to rest.

But somehow he couldn't quite bring himself to relax fully with Sienna showering in the next room.

…..

He looked up as the bathroom door opened. To his relief, she was fully clothed this time. He wasn't quite sure what he would have done or where he would have looked, had she been half naked still. She was dressed in a clean, light green top and dark jeans. Her hair was loose and damp and she was dabbing at the ends with a towel.

He went to re-position himself from where he was sat on the bed, wincing a little with the sharp pain in his back from where he had strained it.

"You hurt?" She asked, concerned, sinking down on to the bed next to him. She smelled incredible, fresh, sweet and clean. Such a contrast to the foul stench of the dying world he had become so used to over the past couple of years.

"It's nothing," he dismissed, bowing his head allowing his hair to cover half his face.

"You've probably strained a muscle or something, holding on to too much tension in your back. Want me to try and release it? I'm trained in holistic massage" she said casually.

Before he had the chance to say anything more, she had dropped the towel out of her hands and put one hand on to his mid back over his shirt.

He didn't resist. He wasn't comfortable with this kind of thing, but something in him allowed her to carry on.

Starting off lightly, she glided the pad of her thumb up the length of his aching muscles, slowly increasing the pressure in deep circular movements. She stopped at the centre of his pain, and she pressed and squeezed the exact spot. It felt good, so fucking good. It was all Daryl could do not to groan out loud with the pleasure. She had the exact right spot, the exact right amount of pressure. No-one had ever touched him like that before.

"You have a tight knot right here," she explained as she continue to knead him with both hands now.

He closed his eyes for a few moments as she worked, enjoying it immensely. Before he was unable to stop his mind from wandering to thoughts about what the sensation of her talented fingers touching him, would feel like in other areas, and uncontrollably he felt blood rushing to his groin. He tensed up.

Sensing he'd had enough, Sienna slowly removed her hands from his back.

"Thanks," he mumbled awkwardly, a little disappointed it had come to an end. He didn't usually like people touching him, but with her it was different. Her hands on him had felt like fucking heaven.

"That should feel a bit better now," she said, looking at him through her long lashes. "But I can do some more work on it another time, if you like?"

"Thanks," he just repeated again quietly. Not sure what else to say.

Sienna moved around to the other side of the bed. "Don't know about you, but I am going to get some decent sleep."

Daryl stood up to walk over to the chair by the door.

"You can sleep on the bed," she said, lying down and half closing her eyes, still fully clothed. She felt pretty safe here, but she knew it was still better to sleep dressed in situations like this, just in case they needed to move fast. "We're both adults," she added sleepily, sensing Daryl's awkwardness as her head pressed into the pillow. She wanted him to get some proper sleep on the bed too. "It's much more comfortable than the chair," she added.

The lights in the room suddenly flickered dramatically, buzzing and crackling before they went completely off, leaving the room in total darkness.

With her words ringing around in his head, Daryl got up from the chair and slowly climbed back on to the bed, lying down in the dark with his hands behind his head, careful to keep his distance from where she was lying on the other side. The different kind of ache in his back now, reminding him of where her fingers had been.

He sighed silently, thinking how it was dark and they were alone. Everything in him was screaming, _'touch her, touch her!'_

If he had been a different man - his brother, Rick or Abraham even, he would have taken this opportunity to reach over to touch the beautiful woman lying next to him. Give his body what it was craving so badly.

But he wasn't. So, instead, he kept his distance. His frustration building.

...

Sienna was almost asleep, but the undeniable chemistry between her and Daryl was keeping her awake. She liked him, in a way she hadn't liked anyone for a long time. But he was so difficult to read. One minute they were really getting on, the next he seemed distant and awkward.

She didn't want to push it, so instead she shut it out. Turning her thoughts to other things. She tried to sleep again. But the sound of the wild storm outside together with her busy mind, still prevented her.

"Daryl," she whispered.

"Mmm.."

"You think they're okay out there?"

He knew she was referring to Sam, Amelia and Suki. "Should be," he mumbled.

Temporarily comforted by his words, Sienna limbs grew heavy and her eyes finally shut properly as they both simultaneously fell into a deep dreamless sleep.

 **A/N - Thanks for reading, please leave a review if you can! :)**


	11. ELEVEN

Daryl woke to streams of bright sunshine flooding through the blinds on the window. He prized his eyes open, half expecting to find himself in his room back at Alexandria, in the house he had shared with Rick, Carol and Michonne. A place that despite his best efforts he had never quite felt comfortable.

But suddenly it all started coming back to him. He hadn't been at Alexandria with his original group for a while now. He had woken in a hotel. A place surprisingly full of people and guarded by military. A sight he had never expected to see again. He hadn't expected to fall asleep so easily here either, but he had drifted off into a deep dreamless sleep pretty quickly.

Shifting a little more, Daryl realized he was lying next to a sleeping woman. Sienna. The sweet aroma of her scent filling the room still.

They weren't touching, he had been careful to leave a good space in the centre of the bed between them. But he silently cursed himself when he realised he was hard. His mind might have been trying to tell him he wasn't bothered, but his body couldn't deny that she turned him on, possibly more then any woman he had ever met. It wasn't the first time he had woken with a raging hard on since he had met her either. He'd had no control over the intense sex dreams he experienced most nights, since meeting the gorgeous blonde.

It had also been a long time since he had woken next to a woman on a bed in any capacity - particularly in a situation that didn't involve them having to be alert for their lives every waking moment - and especially a woman that physically had the effect on him that Sienna clearly did.

He fumbled around a little, throwing her a glance through his long scruffy hair, to see that her fluttering eyelids were still closed. She was lying on her side, her perfect voluptuous breasts facing him and the curve of her hip pointing upwards as her long hair spilled out over the pillow. She was still in her jeans, he had half expected her to have stripped down to something else to sleep in, stirring him even more. But to his relief she hadn't.

Before she had the chance to wake, he got up off the bed.

The sudden movement made her eyes immediately open. She didn't say anything at first, the pools of blue in her gaze adjusting to the daylight in the room.

"Morning," she said sleepily, with a shy smile, sitting up to stretch out her arms.

Head down Daryl shuffled across the room, hoping she hadn't noticed the bulge in his trousers as he just mumbled, "I'll meet you downstairs."

* * *

'What was up with Daryl?' Sienna sighed, running a comb through her long freshly washed hair from her shower the night before. She knew caring what Daryl thought of her should be the last thing on her mind. When she should be focused on meeting up with her friends again and working on her latest writing piece.

But somehow she couldn't stop thinking about her interactions with the handsome, rough around the edges, American survivor. There was just something about him.

She knew he had stayed with her here last night partly out of a sense of duty and because of the storm, because he wasn't an asshole he was a rare good person, and he felt he owed her one. But Sienna also got the impression at times that Daryl had genuinely wanted to be here with her and enjoyed her company.

Now, however, he was acting strange again.

She wondered if it was because of the back massage, she could tell he didn't let people touch him much. She had genuinely been trying to help with his pulled muscle, it was something she knew she was good at. But she'd be lying to herself if she said she hadn't also been a little curious as to where it could have led.

But they had been alone together in a dark hotel room and - nothing! He had behaved like a complete gentleman. Not so much as a single leering glance, or suggestive smile. Just nothing. Plus he had shot out of the room like he couldn't get away from her fast enough this morning.

Perhaps that was what was driving her so crazy about him. Most men were creeps and eye -fucked her the minute they saw her, but she knew they were mostly married or just jumping on any female that still looked like they took any sort of care over their appearance now. But with Daryl it was different, he seemed to genuinely want to just look out for her without wanting to rip off her underwear.

Maybe she just wasn't his type? She thought to herself. Maybe he went for more petite girls? Or ones that were tougher and didn't freak out over a stupid spider!

But even so, all that aside, he was still a male and from her experience most of them weren't all that picky, especially when it came to the end of the world and women being in short supply. But he didn't appear interested in women at all.

…..

She picked up the small pot of coconut oil that she always carried around on her, dabbing some on her dry lips to moisten them - and Sienna wondered when the last time Daryl had got intimate with a woman was. Surely he must want or need sex in some capacity?

She then thought about what Alex would have done had he been the one alone in the dark room sharing the bed with her the night before- and she could quite confidently say that her fellow cocky reporter wouldn't have kept his hands to himself or stuck to his side of the bed for very long. A thought that made her cringe a little.

She tucked the last of her things back in to her backpack and zipped it up. Tying her hair up, she looked into the dirty mirror to check she looked presentable. Her mind still on the night before and Daryl.

If she was honest, Sienna was pretty reserved about getting physically intimate too out here. She knew most people were at it, using the excuse of the end of the world. But it wasn't something she wanted to take too lightly. If she had wanted a quick thrill out here, she would have taken Alex or one of the other guys up on one of their flirty offers. But instead she had led a pretty much celibate life since she had arrived in America. Although that wasn't to say there weren't times when she craved sex and intimacy. But she just tried to throw herself into her work instead.

But Daryl had made her curious, in some strange way, he was awakening something in her. A need she had forgotten she had.

She pulled on her patterned leg-warmers and brown boots and after a final quick check in the mirror she turned to make her way downstairs.

….

Daryl was waiting for her in the lobby, he had his head down scanning over a map on the counter, a few people were coming and going but he ignored them,

He looked up as she approached him and jerked his head in acknowledgement.

"Here, I got you some breakfast," he mumbled handing her a bag with another sandwich in it.

"Thanks," she replied, taking it with a small forced smile. He was still giving off a slightly weird vibe.

"We best get going," he said, turning towards the door away from her.

The air felt fresh and new with the passing of the night storm as they wandered back out to the truck in the daytime sunshine. Daryl had thought about waiting for her out here, but had decided to stay inside the building - just in case.

"I'll drive," Daryl said, as Sienna went to get in to the drivers side.

"It's okay, I don't mind," she responded, brushing him off and opening the door to get in.

"Suit yourself," he muttered brusquely moving to the passenger side.

…..

"You know where we're going?" He asked. Watching her carefully as her bare toned arm pulled her seat belt over her shoulder, her blonde pony tail bouncing as she leaned over to fasten it.

They were quite far south from the original site they had stopped at two days before. The site Sienna had agreed to meet the rest of the original team, that had travelled out here with them from the military base back on the east coast.

"We just follow the road back the way we came," she replied breezily. Her blue eyes looking across to meet his. A waft of her scent filling the space between them again as they just looked at each other for a brief moment. Causing a familiar tingling to form in Daryl's groin again and he turned away quickly.

"Lets just get outta this shit-hole," he muttered gruffly.

He was in a bad mood and annoyed at the effect sharing a bed with her the previous night had provoked in him. Because he knew a girl like Sienna wouldn't look twice at a guy like him. She'd been married before, and he had no idea what her husband had been like, but Daryl felt certain he wouldn't have been anything like the redneck lowlife he and his brother had been.

If Merle had been here now he would most probably be hitting on her non-stop, driving her mind with flirty remarks and gestures to wind her up. But Daryl preferred to remain silent and distant.

Sienna reached down to fiddle with the dial on the radio, the crackling eventually turning into a semi eligible song as they headed off. She could tell Daryl was in a mood about something but she had no idea what. She wondered whether she should just insist he headed off on his bike now and make it easy for him.

But she didn't suggest that and neither did he. Instead they drove on in silence for a short while.

A song Sienna liked came on the radio so she turned the volume up, humming a little.

Daryl tilted his head from where it had been fixed looking out his window, to give her a long stare. Feeing self conscious, she went silent.

"You sing?" he asked, raising a brow.

"Nope - I am tone deaf," she replied a little embarrassed, her cheeks blushing. "Believe me, you wouldn't want to hear me sing."

His features softened a little at her honesty.

"I couldn't imagine a world without music in it though," she added thoughtfully. "It's what keeps me going most days."

Daryl turned away, his mouth set into a hard line, "Well way things have been going you're gonna have to do without a lot of good things soon," he snapped, thinking back to the way he and his group had been forced to live for the past nearly two years.

She pursed her lips, "Maybe….Maybe not. The best things will always be available…if you want them enough." She bit her lip, her eyes widening.

He shrugged, brushing his hair away from the side of his face. Noticing her eyes flickering across his face, she was studying him in that same intense way of hers again as if she was trying to read him. Like her curiosity was sparked and she wanted to ask something, but wasn't sure how to go about it.

"What?" He said, his eyes narrowing.

"You're not like other guys," she responded, still gazing at him.

He wanted to ask her to elaborate, his forehead creased, but he couldn't seem to find the words.

"You're driving on the wrong damn side of the road," he blurted out instead, noticing she had wavered across slightly.

"Not where I come from," she replied with a smirk, veering back to the right side of the completely deserted road.

He opened his mouth to reply with some smart retort, when something on the side of the road suddenly caught his attention. "Look out!" He yelled, noticing a female figure stepping out in front of them.

Sienna slammed on the breaks, bringing the vehicle to a screeching halt narrowly missing hitting her.

At first the figure could have been mistaken for a walker, she was filthy and covered in matted blood, but she was waving her hands around urgently and the look in her eye was definitely that of the living. Petrified and desperate.

"Stay there," Daryl ordered, glancing over at Sienna, before he stepped out the car to face the woman.

Clutching his crossbow, he looked her over. She didn't look threatening but Daryl knew only too well that you could never be too careful these days. She could be hiding something.

"You got to help me," the woman begged. She looked ageing, Daryl wasn't sure how old exactly but her scraggly hair was grey and thinning and she had deep wrinkles running across her hardened face.

He didn't reply at first, as he heard the truck door slam shut and he looked over to see Sienna walking over to stand next to him.

His pulse sped up at the sight of Sienna on the dirty road in front of the strange woman, her bright blonde hair sparkling in the sun, her eyes wide and curious. His grip on his crossbow instinctively tightened as he realised how vulnerable Sienna could be out here. The old woman might look harmless to the British girl, but he knew people weren't always as they seemed.

"Where are your people?" Daryl questioned in a rough voice.

"Dead," the older woman replied breathlessly, clutching her chest. "They got em…all of em."

"Who?" He asked. His eyes darting across to share a look of concern with Sienna.

"The ones with the dead eyes," the woman continued. "They killed my family, left me for dead too. Then the biters came, they showed me no mercy."

Something about the way she was talking made Daryl relax a little, she wasn't a threat. Just a frail old woman, who had lost her world. He could still tell the good from the bad and she wasn't bad.

"What's your name?" Daryl asked.

"Nancy."

"You been out there all this time?" Sienna asked this time.

The older woman nodded, "Yeah, we had a community not far from here. We kept it pretty well hidden, until they found us, now they're all gone…You gotta help me, I'll die out there."

Daryl nodded slowly, his eyes softening a little. She was weak he could see that and if things had been different, she could easily have been a part of his old community and he felt something tug at him a little as he thought back to all the old vulnerable people he had brought in to the prison from Woodbury. How he had failed them all.

He looked back to where Sienna was still stood by his side, her face full of concern now. There were bad people in the area close by and walkers too.

"Come on," he said, lowering his weapon and moving over to help the older woman to the side of the road, propping her down against a tree.

He watched as Sienna crouched down beside her, holding up a water bottle for the frail woman to slowly drink. "Thank you," Nancy murmured as Sienna lowered the bottle.

"You two married?" Nancy then asked, looking from Daryl to Sienna with a small smile.

Sienna looked to Daryl to catch his eye as they both blushed at the same time. "No," she was quick to respond. "We're just travelling together."

"I see, it's like that is it? Just watching over each other's back," the woman mumbled, still smiling, she raised an eyebrow. "He'd probably be getting a few nicer benefits if you were though."

Sienna blushed some more, as Daryl stepped away pretending not to hear. He put his hand up to rub the side of his face as he thought on what to do next. Looking over to see Sienna still talking to the woman, but it looked more serious this time.

She stood up to walk back over to him. "She's been bit," Sienna said, shaking her head. "She'll be infected now."

"Then you've got to help her," Daryl said passionately.

The look forming in her blinking blue eyes told him what he already suspected. "You can help her," he insisted, raising his voice.

She shook her head, "I'm sorry."

"God damn it woman, you've got the stuff right there, you can save her, like you saved me."

"I can't. I'm sorry, it doesn't work like that," she replied, her voice shaky.

He glared at her angrily.

"She has a fever, the infection is spreading, it's too late," Sienna said firmly.

"Weren't too late for me," he muttered gruffly under his breath.

He looked away from her and marched back over to the dying woman. He crouched down by her side and took her hand. "I'm sorry," he said gently.

…

Sienna remained in the same spot by the truck looking over as Daryl remained crouched down by the older woman for a few moments more. The dying woman was leaning over to say something to him as he looked at her intently. Sienna couldn't catch what it was, but by the look on Daryl's face it had moved him.

"I'm sorry," he then repeated again louder, and Sienna looked away a shiver running across her as she heard a single gunshot run out into the air.

xxxx

They drove on in silence.

Sienna could tell Daryl was mad. Not just mad at her, but mad at the world. He was staring out the window, his hand covering his mouth.

Daryl was too wound up to speak as they made their way on further up the road. It was just another dead person, a mere drop in the ocean as far as their world was concerned now. He had witnessed countless deaths and thousands of walkers, that were once living people. He'd also killed his fair share of people, in order for him and his group to stay alive.

But this death was different. It was a sign that despite all the things he had learned recently, the hope he had gained since meeting Sienna and the others, nothing had really changed. The world was still full of darkness.

Siena kept her eyes on the road ahead, when the truck suddenly spluttered to a stop. "Damnit," she exclaimed, trying to start it up again.

"We out," Daryl asked roughly. He knew they had been running low on gas.

"I don't think so," she answered, frustrated.

Without saying anything else, Daryl was out the truck checking the engine. "It's the battery," he said loudly, walking round to the back to lower the ramp to get his bike off.

He climbed on to it revving the engine, as it too spluttered and died.

Sienna watched silently from the side of the road as Daryl cursed, trying to get his bike working.

"Piece of shit," he yelled, kicking the side of the bike. He had built it as best he could from the parts in Aaron's garage, but it had always been a little temperamental.

"We need to get another battery," Sienna said calmly.

"Yeah, and how do you suggest we do that, little Miss fix it?" He asked roughly, his expression hardening.

Unfazed by his blackening mood, Sienna shrugged, "They'll be somewhere further up. This area is meant to be an amber zone still, that means there will be more check points where supplies are stored." She scrolled through the information listed on her phone, having charged it in the truck, to see what was in the area.

Daryl scowled, grabbing his bag and crossbow from the truck he slammed the door shut violently. "What we waiting for," he said loudly, marching off up the road.

She didn't follow immediately and he half wondered whether he should stop and check she was okay. He knew he was being a little harsh on her. But he was pissed and he couldn't help but take it out on her. In his eyes, she could have at least tried to have saved that woman. She had the means to. She had just refused.

Eventually he heard her footsteps coming up beside him. He didn't say anything, just glanced over at her through the edges of his hair, relief hitting him to see she was okay. As he immediately thought - why did she have to look so damn near perfect all the time? With her smooth flawless skin and sunny blonde hair tied up and falling down her back like it did.

Being out here alone with her was killing him a little.

He stared back in-front of him again as they carried on walking, as the tension between them grew.

"She's not suffering anymore," Sienna said hesitantly breaking the increasingly awkward silence, referring to the dead woman. "You did the right thing."

"Oh yeah, gonna put that in your book?" He snapped gruffly. "Better still, get your buddies out here to take a photo of her, maybe even make a video. Just make sure your hair's perfect first."

Sienna stopped walking, placing a hand on her hip. Her eyes flashing at him as she said, "You got something you want to say? Then just say it."

He stopped too. Her accusing stare was making him feel uncomfortable, as he turned to glare back at her, taking a step closer to where she was stood. He screwed his face up.

"You people…. you don't know anything. You think you have the right to come here and play God. You decide who gets to live and who gets to die. How fucked up is that? You could have helped that woman, but you didn't. I guess she just wasn't worth it."

Sienna shook her head, still glaring at him. "It's not like that and you know it. It doesn't work like that. You can't save everyone," she replied passionately, raising her voice too, standing her ground with him.

"Oh yeah, well how come you saved me?"

"That was different."

"No it wasn't. I was ready to die. I didn't ask you to save me and bring me back to this goddam hell-hole," Daryl yelled, his voice wobbling a little this time.

"It's doesn't have to be like that, the world doesn't have to be filled with darkness for you," she replied, her tone slightly calmer. Her wide blue eyes locking with his deep expressive blue ones.

He looked away, shaking his head, thinking how she was so beautiful, so smart and yet so clueless all at the same time. "You need to stop acting like things are going to be just fine, because they aint. Nothing will ever be fine again." He responded, his gaze moving back to her face again to watch her reaction.

She shook her head and blinked, "And you need to stop acting like there will never be any light in the world again for you, like there is nothing to live for. All this surviving you've been doing out here - have you ever stopped to ask yourself what you're surviving for?"

They glared at each other for a moment more. Sienna still couldn't work out why Daryl seemed so emotionally stunted, he had a heart she could tell that. But despite the developing feelings she had been experiencing for him, he was just acting moody and distant.

Daryl knew he needed to find a way to deal with his growing frustration and anger. Soon she would be back with the others and he would be alone again. Maybe he'd fit right back in at Alexandria. But he'd still be alone, he'd always been alone - and she just didn't get it.

Averting his eyes from hers, without saying anything further, Daryl turned to stomp off into the woods located to the side of the road.

He needed to take a piss and he also needed a moment alone to cool down. Because she had no idea what she was talking about. They came from different worlds. There had never been any light in the world for him before the world had changed, so he seriously doubted there could be any for him now the whole world was in total darkness now too.

…

Alone in the woods, he zipped up his flies, having cleared his head a little. Deep down, he knew Sienna meant well. She was a good person, and he was lucky to have found her, even if their time together was only going to be brief, he was nothing but glad to have met her.

With that in his mind he turned to make his way back to where he had left her on the road, when he heard her scream.

It wasn't like the scream from the hotel room, when she had seen the spider. This was a proper blood curdling scream. _She was in trouble._

Instinctively Daryl reached for his crossbow. Rushing back to where he had left the blonde British girl. He peered out from behind the tree's.

His body immediately filled with adrenaline, his heart thundering violently in his chest. She was being held captive by two men.

They were filthy and rough looking with W on their foreheads. One had a knife held to her throat with one hand, while his other hand was groped her around the waist. The second man was stood closely by with a gun in his hand. They were clearly part of the same group that had tried to kill him and Aaron around here, possibly killing the old woman's group too. The group Munroe was after that had been operating in this area.

"It's been a long time since we've seen a beauty like you," the man holding her said with a gappy evil grin, running his hands up and down her side.

She wriggled, "Fuck you," she spat.

"Now, now, that's not very nice," he responded, tugging on her blonde ponytail. "We aren't even planning to kill you either," he said. "We want to have some fun with you first. You're quite something. You know that?"

Daryl felt his jaw tightening, his blood simmering. He raised his crossbow, he had a reasonable shot at the man nearest to him from here, if he was quick he could possibly take him out. But that would leave the man holding her and he couldn't risk Sienna's life like that. He couldn't lose her. Not like this.

Instead he exploded out on to the road. He didn't have a plan, but he growled fiercely, "Let her go."

All eyes turned to Daryl.

"Look what we have here, your knight in shining armour," the man holding her said, still grinning.

Daryl looked to the blonde girl, his insides churning with anxiety, realising she meant more to him then he had ever thought possible.

"Stay out of this," the man with the knife said, glaring at Daryl now, his tone darker.

"Just let her go," Daryl repeated, holding his crossbow up.

"She isn't yours anymore, she's ours now," the other man growled. Tugging sharply on her hair again. "And it's been a long time since I have seen a woman that looks like her, she's something real special. It's our lucky fucking day."

Daryl's face twisted with rage, a vein popping out of his neck. Blood simmering beneath the surface. He knew he'd die here to protect her.

"I tell you what," the man holding her still, said to Daryl, "We won't kill you straight away bowman...we'll take out your eyes first, so you can still hear but not see what we're about to do to her. Then when we're done with her, we'll feed you both to the dead."

He then took his knife and ran the blade gently up the outside of Sienna's leg over her jeans barely touching her, just toying with her as he moved it up the side of her body, skimming her breasts.

Daryl looked at Sienna to see terror had overtaken her face. She wasn't stupid she knew what they were planning to do to her. He couldn't let that happen. Not here, not to her.

At the sight of the filthy animal in front of him touching her, something powerful kicked in, the fire burning inside Daryl took him over. He knew it might not end well, but he had to do something. He lifted his crossbow and fired fiercely at the man holding the knife, hitting him straight between the eyes, knocking him back, the other man spluttered for a minute, stunned, before his body went limp. He was dead.

Acting fast, Daryl aimed at the second man, who had already raised his gun at him. He fired again before ducking to avoid the shot fired back at him. His arrow hit the second wolf on the shoulder, making him stumble around for a second. Daryl lifted his crossbow again, ready to take another shot before the other man could, when he heard a gunshot.

He turned to see Sienna shakily holding her gun up with a look of surprise on her face as the second man that had been holding her captive was slumped to the ground, blood pouring from his temple with the bullet she'd put in it. She'd killed him.

Sienna's hand flew to her mouth as she let out a startled gasp. She had actually killed him, he was dead, both the psychotic assholes were. Daryl had made sure of that. He had saved her. Her eyes glistened with tears as she looked to him. Something electric running through her as he looked back at her briefly and they shared a moment.

Before he rushed across to check they were definitely dead and wouldn't come back to life.

Satisfied they wouldn't turn, he looked back to a still shaken Sienna. "Stay there," he ordered. "I'll check they were alone."

She nodded, her eyes shimmering with emotion as she looked at him in a little awe at how he was handling this. Taking control so calmly.

Minutes later he was back. "There wasn't anyone else," he said confidently. His heart rate back to normal. He was fairly certain in this area they had been acting alone.

He glanced at her properly, to see her face was still flushed and her eyes glossy, her neat hair was now messily falling out of it's ponytail. This might just be a part of life to Daryl now, but he knew it was new to her.

Unable to take his eyes off her, his face softened, searching for something comforting to say now. He couldn't help but feel like a dick. If he hadn't take off like he had into the woods. She wouldn't have been such an easy target.

He also knew that she thought he saw her as weak, but he didn't. She had been outnumbered, it could have happened to anyone and when it mattered she had stepped up and killed the man, taking care of herself.

But before he had the chance to speak, she had moved towards him and her arms were around his neck. Her shaken body was pressed tightly in to his as he sensed her heart beating quickly next to his. She still smelled fucking amazing and he couldn't help but hold her tighter to him. She was safe, he had her now. He wasn't going to let anything happen to her again. His own heart-rate suddenly speeding up all over again, but for a different reason. She felt so fucking good.

Sienna breathed out slowly with relief into Daryl's muscular chest, full of emotion still a few of her tears escaped in to his sweaty neck. He had saved her. Despite their argument, he had come back for her, and right now she wanted the comforting feeling of being held in his strong arms to last forever, as his arm moved gently across her back. Then she felt it, something hard against her groin. It was subtle at first but his growing erection was enough to let her know that he wanted her in a different way.

She didn't fight it, instead she pushed herself closer into him. Just for a moment, before he quickly sprung apart from her. Turning away, his face reddening a little.

Sienna realised she had to tread carefully. She touched his arm, with a small smile, "Come on, I've got an idea," she said, gesturing for him to follow her in the direction of the woods.

He flicked his hair out of his eyes and gave her a half smile in return as they both slowly made their way off the road and into the unknown.

 _TO BE CONTINUED… (Next chapter we will see a slightly different side to show Daryl :)_

 **Thanks as always for reading and reviewing. It is so appreciated.**


	12. TWELVE

**A/N - Thanks SO much for the great response to the last chapter. I hope you enjoy this one! ;) Warning it contains explicit content!**

* * *

"What is this place?" Daryl asked as they came to stop at what appeared to be a cabin hidden within the depth of the woods.

...

They had been walking for around an hour after their incident with the wolves. Neither Daryl or Sienna had spoken much. Both had still been a little shaken and in shock at what had happened. But the atmosphere between them had dramatically changed. They were genuinely full of relief and gratitude that they had managed to remain relatively unharmed and still together, when the alternative was unthinkable.

Nearly losing each other had made them both aware of how much they wanted to stay together.

They had held hands for a while at first. Sienna had initiated it, but Daryl who usually found that kind of thing uncomfortable had been happy to oblige, neither wanting to break the contact. Daryl had told himself he was just doing it as a comfort to her, but deep down he knew it was a comfort to him too. He liked the feel of her soft fingers gripping his harsher ones. Then Daryl had gone off to investigate a noise in the branches of the trees, leaving her stood back and that initial close contact broken.

As they had moved on further, Daryl had still made sure to stick closely by Sienna's side this time. Instead of acting aloof and marching off ahead, like he had done earlier that day. He wasn't mad with her anymore, just happy she was still alive. He hadn't realised just how much she had meant to him, until he had nearly lost her.

Sienna had liked having him close too, throwing him little glances and making small talk every now and again to fill the silence. Daryl had surprisingly found that he had liked that too. Hearing the sound of her voice was another little comfort to him.

...

"I wasn't sure it would actually be here" Sienna explained a little surprised, walking up to the front door of the camouflaged cabin to see that it was shut tightly closed.

She had been aware that there were allegedly a number of these places hidden around the country. They appeared like nothing out of the ordinary from the outside, but inside they were supposed to be host to a space underground where essential supplies had been carefully stored for an apocalypse or end of the world scenario.

Daryl watched as she wandered up to the door. She tried the handle but it was locked. She pushed it several times before stopping in frustration that it wouldn't budge.

"Here," Daryl said, pushing gently past her. He rammed it several times with his strong shoulder, putting all his body weight into it, before it finally gave way. The wooden door had rotten with the weathering, making it easier to gain access this way. It was clear that no-one had been here for a very long time. Most likely before the infection had started even and the world had turned.

Sienna went first through the open door, holding up a flashlight. She was looking for any kind of power generator, that she suspected would be kept in a place like this. Daryl was following closely behind her, his crossbow raised on the off chance he should need it.

Staying closely together they slowly investigated every room.

The place was bigger inside than it looked from the outside. There was a kitchen, open fire, living space with a table and chairs and a door that led through to one bedroom with a double bed and adjacent bathroom.

Sienna turned the tap on in the bathroom to discover clear running water. Her brows furrowed as she tried to work out where the water supply could be coming from. This place was becoming a mystery to her.

"We're missing something. I'm sure there must be something more around here," she mumbled. "This place is too good to be true."

"There was another door," Daryl said, this time taking the lead as she held up the light for him and they walked back to the main living space, to where there was another door to the side of the kitchen. Daryl opened it to find there was a steep staircase behind it.

Carefully, they quietly made their way down the steps.

"There is the power back up," Sienna said excitedly, when they reached the bottom and came to a large metal box. She quickly fiddled with a few of the switches for a moment and suddenly a bright, fluorescent light filled the room, dazzling their eyes.

"Whoa," Sienna exclaimed, looking around at the many shelves of carefully stashed supplies. The first things that came to her eyes were; bottles of water, cans and packets of freeze dried foods, bags of salt, blankets, matches, batteries, torches, medicine and first aid kits.

"There is a battery," she said, pointing to a shelf where there was an assortment of batteries for different types of vehicles. All appearing to have been put there in optimism they would be needed before all the gas in the world went bad. Fortunately, Sienna knew that right now there was still some gas in high demand being shipped in from other parts of the world again.

Daryl nodded in a little shock as he looked to the supply of batteries, realising he could fit one of them in to their abandoned truck easily enough.

"Someone had the right idea," he mumbled, still overwhelmed with their discovery as his gaze swept across the assortment of essential supplies that had been carefully stashed with the sole purpose of preserving life for decades.

"Someone liked to party too," Sienna said, her eyes lighting up as she came to a shelf with racks of beers and wines.

Daryl's mouth twitched into a half smile too.

He didn't ask her how she knew about this place. She'd said she remembered it was meant to be in this area somewhere and she had guessed roughly where it was, when she had been trying to think how they could locate a new battery for their truck. After they had killed the wolves.

The fact that is existed at all, was no surprise to Daryl though, he had suspected all along that there would be places like this around, kept secret. He didn't ask her who had put it here either, because he suspected that would be beyond her level of knowledge. Although he figured she must have some high up contacts to be aware of it's existence in the first place.

But he didn't want to quiz her on that. Right now he knew that wasn't important.

He looked back to his blonde companion, to she has grabbed a handful of foods, water and beers.

"Come on," she said, "We need to re-charge."

Daryl didn't need to be asked twice as he followed her back up the steps to the living area again.

* * *

Sienna put her beer bottle up to her lips to chug it back, staring out into the fresh, night air, from where she was sat next to Daryl on the steps to their temporary home for the night. A collection of stars twinkling down from the clear, dark sky.

They had decided not to trek back to their vehicle until the sun came up again, and having eaten to their satisfaction, they had come out here to get a little fresh air, in contrast to the stale slightly musty air in the log cabin.

"I can't believe I actually killed someone today," Sienna said thoughtfully, lowering her bottle.

Daryl turned to look at her through his hair, "You did what you had to do," he responded. He remembered the first time he'd had to kill someone, not a walker, an actual living person. How that had made him feel. Now it was just a part of life. Kill or be killed. A concept he and the rest of his group had had to adapt to, in order to survive in their new screwed up world.

"Yeah," she mumbled hesitantly and a little sadly, loosely gripping her bottle with both hands. A coupe of years ago, never in her wildest dreams would Sienna have imagined she could have shot someone in the head in cold blood like that. Even after having basic weapons training out here, she had naively thought or hoped she wouldn't have to use it.

"They didn't deserve any mercy, cause they sure as hell wouldn't have shown you any," Daryl continued, trying to making her feel better still.

She nodded and responded with a weak smile.

"You got a good shot on you too," he added, raising a brow.

He had been impressed with how she had managed to keep it together enough to shoot the other guy in the head like she had. From what he had known of her prior to that, he had half expected and feared she wouldn't be able to. But she was tougher than she realised. He should have known that from the way she had bravely saved him from the wolves on their first meeting.

Maybe that was one of the reasons he liked her so much.

"Thanks, I think," she replied with another small smile, her pupils dilating as she gazed at him. "I need some more training though."

"Nah," he responded, "You don't need training, your instinct will take over when you need it."

"That's a shame, for a minute there I thought you might offer to help me train a little more," she joked.

Daryl's lips quirked up a little before he looked away from her, a flush creeping up his face as he swigged his bottle.

He shoved his hair out of his eyes as he turned back to look at her properly. "Earlier, you said I wasn't like other guys. What did you mean?" He suddenly asked, his eyes burning curiously, fixing her with his full attention.

Sienna swallowed, her gaze travelling over to meet his as she opened her mouth to speak."You see things differently. You see them for how they really are, with no distractions."

She paused, twisting the rim of her bottle a little, before she bit her lip and continued hesitantly, her blue eyes widening. "You don't seem bothered about other things so much….bothered about women." She said honestly. Although she had to admit her opinion of him had changed slightly now, since their lingering embrace on the side of the road earlier after they had killed the two wolves. He was more bothered than she realised, he just didn't seem to show it in the same way.

He went quiet, his expression unreadable, as he looked away from her and out into the night air.

Sienna felt a small pang of nerves hit her at how he might react to what she had just said. Maybe she had said too much and overstepped a line. It really was none of her business. But she had thought they had been starting to have a heart to heart and she had wanted to be honest with him.

He looked down at his hands and then back over to where she was sat next to him. "Yeah, well how about you. You've got every guy in the place looking you up and down, wanting a bit of you and you don't even bat an eyelid, like you don't even notice."

A heat spread over Sienna's pink cheeks. That hadn't been what she had been expecting him to say at all and she was surprised he had even noticed how other guys behaved towards her, when he had appeared so aloof and distant a lot of the time.

"That's not true," she replied. "Those guys just look at every woman like that out here, most of them have wives and girlfriends back home anyway, and they're just bored, trying their luck wherever they can. There's nothing special about me."

"That aint exactly true," he said sincerely in a low voice, the corners of his eyes crinkling.

Her mouth broke into a smile again as her eyes twinkled and she said, "Not that it wouldn't be nice sometimes to just let go, it's been a _long_ time, y'know…since I've had any physical action like that." She stopped talking, letting out a slightly embarrassed laugh at how open with him she had found herself being - and also how horny talking like that was making her as her dazzling blue eyes met his for a brief second again, before she looked away and down at her beer.

Daryl gulped hard, a tingle hitting his cock at hearing her speak like that. He put his hand up to rub the side of his stubbled jaw, unsure how to respond.

"How about you? When was the last time you had any action?" Sienna asked, biting down on her lower lip, her tone playful and flirtatious.

She studied his face, wondering whether she had crossed a line when his face reddened and his features hardened a little.

He tensed, his eyes narrowing as his whole body stiffened and he said brusquely, "Kind of had other things on my mind, like staying alive out here, that kind of crap wasn't exactly a top priority."

Sienna flinched back, her stomach churning a little, she should know by now he was pretty unpredictable and she had probably hit a raw nerve. She mentally kicked herself for making things awkward again. It was clearly not a topic he wanted to discuss with her.

She should have known better - if she had asked any of her other male friends that question, it wouldn't have been a big deal. Alex would have just bragged about his latest conquest, Sam was currently sleeping with Amelia but knew he had his fair share of female admirers, and Louis was a little less confident but got lucky every now and again.

But Daryl was an enigma.

She drained the last dribble of her beer, before leaving it a few more moments to stand up, smoothing down her hair. "Well, guess I should probably go back inside, get some rest before tomorrow," she said quietly. Not looking at him as she made her way back into the log cabin.

…..

Alone outside now, Daryl violently smashed the top of another beer against the rocky ground to open it. Watching as the froth spurted out of the top with the sudden jerking. He put it to his mouth to drink, wiping the white foam away as he lowered it again.

 _'Why did he have to be such a dick sometimes?'_ he asked himself.

Her words were still ringing around in his head and he experienced both a mixture of excitement and regret.

He could tell things had changed between them. He had never been the best at reading signals from women and sometimes he used that to his advantage, because normally when women were giving him those sorts of signals he just found it a bit awkward and annoying, not something that he wanted to pursue.

But with Sienna it was all different. The adorable, blue-eyed blonde with her quirky ways and big infectious smile, had captured his interest in more ways than one, and for some reason she seemed to be interested in him now too.

He thought perhaps it was the way he had stepped up and come to her rescue earlier that day that had made her see him in a different light, or perhaps it had been there beneath the surface all along but he just hadn't been ready to see it yet. That she actually liked him.

Either way he knew deep down that if he wanted something more to happen with her, he had to find the courage to seize this moment. He could almost hear his dead brothers voice in his ear - ' _What you waiting for baby brother, it's now or never, a girl like that isn't going to be available forever!' You want some, you gotta take it!"_

He took another swig of his beer and the butterflies rushing through him spurred him on as he stood up to make his way back inside.

...

Once back in the cabin, he slammed the door shut from the inside, making doubly sure it was completely secure before he went further in.

She wasn't in the living area so he wandered through to the bedroom. He found her stood up with her back to him, she was fiddling with her radio. She put it down by the bed as he got closer and she turned around to face him.

Neither of them spoke.

Daryl's eyes were deep and expressive, telling her everything she needed to know. Sienna's eyes were wide and full of emotion, her pupils huge.

A silence fell between them and in that moment all their feelings were laid bare - the spark of lust, passion and possibly something deeper that had been building between them was igniting. Both unable to deny their overwhelming sexual chemistry anymore. The desire for and need for each other.

Slowly, with trembling fingers he touched her waist. Her eyes widened further as she instinctively moved further in to him so their bodies were touching and she looked deep into his eyes. His hand drifted to her hip and he puller her in even closer. His breathing quickened and so did hers in anticipation.

Daryl moved his mouth in to brush hers gently, his rough lips connecting with her soft ones. She parted her lips straight away and he felt as though he was walking on air as a warmth spread through him, with the way her lips connected with his. Her mouth was so warm, the caress of her lips felt better than he could have imagined.

Quickly the pressure of their lips became more firm, moving in perfect sync, slowly, cautiously. Finding a rhythm. Being this close to a woman felt good to Daryl, his body had been crying out for it for months, and he had fantasized about Sienna ever since that first night on the beach. He had fought it, but he had wanted her so badly.

Daryl's only desire now was to touch her further. He moved his hands under her top to feel her smooth naked skin. His body was spinning with arousal, his cock straight away rock hard as he pushed his groin into hers, letting her feel the physical effect she was having on him. One of his hands was still under her top, while he moved the other one up to lightly cup the side of her face.

Sienna became breathless as eventually their lips broke apart. She wasn't sure what she had expected but Daryl was an incredible kisser and a tingling hit her at the promise of what was to come.

His strong fingertips trailed down her cheek and across her neck, tangling in her silky blonde hair. The other hand running along her back. She reached down to pull her top over her head in one clean movement, undoing the clasp on her black bra straight after, as it fell to the ground.

Daryl's eyes swept over her perfect large breasts and his erection grew. They were better even than he had pictured them to be in his many fantasies about her. Pert and full, but with a look about them that signified they were most certainly natural and not filled with silicone. Just how he liked them.

His eyes darkened with lust as she moved her hands across to undo the buttons on his shirt, and he impatiently took over the last few as he pulled it off, exposing his scarred and tattooed chest. He pressed it into hers and pushed her back on to the bed, kicking off his boots. Covering her neck with soft butterfly like kisses. His fingers touched her breasts, exploring her hard nipples. Making her moan.

She put her hand up to tug her long blonde hair out of it's pony tail allowing it to spread out over the pillow as he kissed and touched her body.

Sienna moved her hands to trail along his back and up and down his biceps. Normally Daryl avoided any kind of situation where people came into contact with his scarred body, he sometimes wondered whether that was partly the reason why he'd shied away from a lot of physical encounters, particularly with women he liked. But with Sienna again that seemed to be different, it was as though it didn't matter. How much he wanted her and the way he felt about her, overclouded all of that.

Her scent felt like a drug to him as he buried his face further into her skin, breathing it in. She pushed her hips up to make contact with him further, and just feeling how hard he was through his jeans sent a shiver up and down her spine.

He reached down to undo the zip to her jeans, helping her wriggle out of them, leaving her just in her black panties. His hair fell over his face as he stared for a moment, before his mouth once again found hers drawing her into another deep passionate kiss. His fingers stroked her inner thigh, before they slipped inside her underwear, gently touching her, feeling how wet she was for him made him groan a little into her mouth as she silently gasped at the sensation of his touch.

In return she hastily reached up to find the buckle to his belt, fumbling with it to remove his trousers and tug down his underpants. Revealing his hardness. He was bigger than she'd imagined and she felt as though she was about to explode with anticipation as her thighs trembled and shook at the need to feel him inside her. To have that closeness and connection on another level.

Her fingers reached down to wrap around him. He closed his eyes for a moment, biting down on his lower lip with the pleasure, as she moved her hand with the exact right motion up and down, she was good, _really fucking good_ , and he silently willed her to stop or he knew he was going to blow his load right there and then. It had been a long time since anyone had done that to him and he hadn't realized how desperately he needed it. He groaned a little louder, cursing under his breath.

She slowed down a little and he re-positioned himself. His mouth found itself moving down her body again, while he used his hand to twist and pull her panties off completely, subtly averting her hand from him. His lips travelled down her toned torso to smother her with kisses lower down, his breath hot against her as he teased the sensitive skin on her inner thighs by gentling nibbling and sucking.

He was skilled, he knew what he was doing she thought, as she reached up to grip the pillow as his tongue moved up further finding the exact right spot and she knew he was going to make her come.

Daryl looked up for a second to see the look of pure enjoyment on her face, and it felt amazing knowing he was the one responsible for making her feel like that. His tongue carried on as he tried to increase her pleasure. Within moments, she let out a satisfied moan, the waves of orgasm hitting her.

He paused for a moment, before she reached her thighs up to wrap around his waist, hungry for more. Her hands slipped around his neck, digging her nails into his shoulders slightly. She wanted to make him feel as good as he had made her feel.

His eyes darkened further as she parted her legs some more. Their closeness increasing as he moved himself inside her. He groaned again to finally feel what it was like to be in her. So fucking good.

She gazed into his eyes, expressing how she felt about him, how much she liked him. Daryl wasn't used to being with a woman like this so intimately and he felt overcome by a strange emotion, it was different to other sexual experiences he'd had.

He started thrusting into her, gently at first before the pleasure overcame him and he sped up. The wanting was suddenly becoming a reality. He didn't have to imagine it anymore, and he was seized by a rush of sensation so intense, it was blowing his mind as he thrusted into her even harder.

She wrapped her legs around him further and he got in even deeper, making her gasp out loud. He stared at her eyes, those wonderful blue eyes, so fascinating to him. She smiled back at him, kissing his neck. Daryl never normally looked at a woman during sex, but this wasn't just sex, it was different, he knew that. He'd craved this kind of closeness for so long. Maybe all his adult life.

He carried on, his pleasure peaking as he slammed in to her hard and fast, feeling her tightening around him. Unable to hold on much longer he felt himself about to lose control, and he let go to the longest, hottest release of his life as he climaxed deep inside her. Pulsating waves of pleasure rocketing through him as let out a deep satisfied groan.

It was as though all the tension and frustration he'd had stored up within his neglected body for so long had been temporarily released. Tension that had been there long before he had laid eyes on Sienna even.

He turned his attention to her, putting his hand up to touch her face as she moaned with satisfaction too.

...

They stayed like that for a while. Daryl wanted to remain inside her for as long as possible, savouring the moment, before he moved off to lay beside her.

He wrapped his arm around her to draw her in to him, allowing her to rest her ruffled blonde head on his chest, so she could feel his heart beating against her as they lay there. Both speechless, dazed, fully satiated and high. Their breathing, slowly coming down to a normal rate. Daryl reached down to kiss the top of her head, a little hair falling into his eyes as he slipped his fingers in hers and turned to look at her properly, she was so beautiful it made his insides ache.

Usually unresponsive, gruff and a little surly, this was a whole new side to Daryl. A side that had always had the potential to be there, but he had kept deeply suppressed, possibly even from himself. But not with Sienna. He felt different. He had tried to deny it, but he had wanted her so badly, ever since he had first laid eyes on her and she had sparked something in him. Now she was here, lying naked with him after the most incredible sex. He had her now - and just that alone was making him soften.

"Years," he said, his voice so low it was almost a whisper.

Sienna fluttered her lashes as she looked back at the vulnerability and tenderness in his eyes, making her heart swell a little as she shot him a puzzled look.

"Since I got any real action," he explained, his mouth twitching into a small genuine smile.

She didn't say anything. Her blue eyes sparkled back at him as she broke into a smile too, and she responded to his sentiment simply by moving her lips up gently to kiss his again. He wouldn't have to go for years again!

 **A/N - Wow, so Daryl finally got the girl! ;) Thanks for reading and please review. There is lots more story to come, some more fluff and lots more action! I am also planning to add some small bits here and there about Daryl's past.**


	13. THIRTEEN

**A/N - Thanks for reviews, favs and follows. This chapter is a continuation of the last one and is a bit of Daryl/Sienna fluff, before things start to get serious for them again. I hope you like it and this other side to Daryl! Where we learn a bit more about him!**

* * *

Sienna woke at the threshold of consciousness. Her body still dead to the world, lying blissfully content. Her dreamy, peaceful mind slowly starting to drift back to some form of reality. Next to her she could sense Daryl sleeping still. They were both naked and he was lying right up against her. Gone was the respectable distance he had kept the previous night in the hotel room when they had slept on a bed together. There they had both woken fully clothed, uncomfortable, and if she was honest a little sexually frustrated.

This time all that had dramatically changed.

With her eyes still shut and a sleepy smile on her face, Sienna re-traced every part of the night before. Daryl had completely taken her by surprize. When it had come to down to it, he had been patient, gentle and affectionate. Far from just appearing to want to get off, he had made a point of looking into her eyes and taking his time as they'd had sex. She couldn't have asked for more.

Now it was morning, it felt good to be here with him still and Sienna was in no rush to wake fully and open her eyes. She wasn't ready to come back down to earth just yet, as she sleepily wondered what was going to happen next. How Daryl would behave? If he would be weird or not? He didn't exactly appear to be in a rush to go anywhere at that moment, or show any signs of regret. But she had experienced first hand how awkward he could be. So that could all change when they were both fully conscious.

She sensed him shifting a little, signalling he too was probably starting to wake. She heard the pattern of his breathing changing slightly and she could feel his body heat radiating out from where he was so near to her, causing a buzz of arousal to start spreading through her again at his closeness to her.

Still half asleep, she suddenly felt his hand on her leg, touching her just above her knee. His fingers were lazily tracing up her inner thigh. Slowly and lightly, he inched his hand up slowly, and an intense tingling hit her with what he was doing to her, as she ached for him to touch her up even higher. Instead, taking his time, he kept circling her smooth skin, choosing to linger in certain random spots she had no idea would be so sensitive. Causing her breathing to quicken and her whole body to shudder a little with the increased tingling and her racing heart-rate. What the hell was doing to her?

As his fingertips rose further up, she could feel her nipples hardening and the wetness between her legs growing. She was on fire for him again, he was making her feel all sorts of sensations she hadn't known existed. Her mouth dropping open, she turned to face the pillow, hardly able to cope with the pleasure as he gently hit the spot, using his skilled fingers to stroke and massage her to an explosive orgasm. Making her whole body tremor.

 _That was some wake up call._

Her body still sensitive, Sienna slowly opened her eyes to see Daryl looking back at her through the hair falling in to his eyes. She hadn't been dreaming. This was actually happening.

"Morning," she mumbled, her face flushed.

"Morning," he responded, and she realized how much she loved his voice. His accent and the subtle gruffness to it was so damn sexy.

She reached beside her for the bottle of water she had left there the night before. She took a swig, before reaching over to offer it to Daryl, causing the sheet that had been covering them both to slip down her slightly, exposing her full breasts. Daryl made no secret of staring at them first before he took the bottle from her.

"Thanks," he replied, propping himself up and taking a long swig.

She settled back down next to him, pushing her naked body up against his so her long hair was tickling his chest. She watched carefully as his biceps flexed sightly as he screwed the lid back on the bottle and tossed it down to the bottom of the bed.

Her gaze shifted, sweeping over his scarred, tattooed body. There were certainly some stories there, she felt sure of that - stories of pain, sadness and bravery. Maybe some day she'd hear them. But not here, this moment was about happiness.

For now, she settled on placing her hand gently on his side, just above his groin to where there was a new looking, deep purple coloured scar forming.

"It's healed well," she said softly, as her fingers skimmed the outside of it. Her hair falling down onto his exposed skin even more. Remembering the last time she had spent any real time touching him there was when she had been trying to save his life and bring him back from the brink of being turned by the venom from the bite that had formed this scar, the night they had met.

…..

Daryl didn't recoil at the feel of her touch on his battered body. Normally it would be unthinkable to him to allow someone to get this close to something so deeply personal. But he liked the sensation of her hands on him like this. It created a sort of warmth in him as he looked down at his scar too. A constant reminder of how lucky he had been, cheating death like he had. If it hadn't been for Sienna being there he knew he wouldn't be living and breathing, and here with her right now like this.

"Aint many people about with one of these," he remarked, arching a brow. Referring to the bite mark low down on his abdomen.

Sienna smiled, looking up at him with sparkling, blue eyes. He was unique and she liked that.

She bit down on her lip and Daryl noticed her get that curious look on her face again. The one he knew would inevitably lead to a question.

"How did you know how to do _that_ to me?" She asked, her eyes widening. Referring to what had just happened as she had woken.

Right when Sienna had been starting to think she was figuring Daryl out, he went and threw her another curve ball. He had seemed to act indifferent or awkward around women. But then when it had come down to it, it was clear that he more than knew what he was doing. Leaving her blown away.

Daryl responded to her question by shrugging, his lips twitching a little as he peered at her through his long hair and he tried not to smile. He couldn't deny he wasn't proud of making her come like he had. Watching her had been one of the sexiest things he had ever seen.

"Don't just shrug," she continued, raising both brows at him, smiling. This was one story she was going to make him tell her now. "You don't just know how to do _that_ to a woman without some guidance somewhere…. I mean, no-one's ever done that…before," she stammered a little, blushing as she bit down on her lip some more.

Daryl was unable to stop a small grin from forming on his lips now, as he tried to hide behind his hair averting her inquisitive gaze. He leaned back against the headboard of the bed. Despite what she was thinking, he didn't have some great love story to tell.

"Weren't no-one special," he muttered, putting his hand up to his mouth.

 _The memory of his last juvenile probation officer filling his head. The one that had somehow managed to keep him out of jail. She had been Ukrainian and had been quite hard and no-nonsense, but unlike the others he'd had before, she had genuinely seemed to give a shit about Daryl, something he hadn't been used to growing up the way he had. She hadn't been particularly attractive, she'd had mousey coloured hair that she tied up tightly on her head, with piercing eyes and thin lips that always looked as though she had a slight moustache._ _She'd been nothing but professional with him the whole time he'd been assigned to her and she'd been working on turning him around, not putting up with any of his mood swings or attitude problems. She had made him feel as though perhaps he wasn't the worthless asshole he had been led to believe he was, he didn't have to be damaged beyond all repair. She had inspired him and he had grown to like her and look forward to her visits._

 _It was on her last visit that everything had changed. She had gone through the motions with him, signing off all the paperwork, explaining he was on his own now, an adult. Then she had sat a little closer to him on the battered old couch in his father's rundown shack in the woods. "So, who's going to keep you out of trouble now, Daryl?" She'd asked with a sly smile._

 _He'd shrugged._

 _"You got a girlfriend, Daryl?"_

 _He hadn't responded._

 _"You want one?"_

 _Again he hadn't said anything. His eyes had just been fixed on the face of the older woman in front of him, trying to work out whether he should be excited or terrified as she had taken his hand and placed it on her breast._

 _"I want to give you a very special parting gift," she had said in a low, husky voice. "I am going to show you exactly what to do with a woman, after that you'll be able to get any girl you want to do anything you want..." She had removed his hand from her breast then, as he had just watched her, too stunned to speak._

 _"But, what I'm going to show you, isn't to be used on every woman you meet. Just reserve it for the special ones, the ones that really get you in here," she had said, patting her chest. "For one woman in particular… and you'll know when you meet her," she had continued as he had watched her, fascinated, taking in every word she said…Before she had taken hold of his hand again…..pulling up her skirt._

With the memory of that moment still in his mind, Daryl's eyes looked over at Sienna's face, something about the way she was looking at him made him feel something profound. Her beautiful, big blue eyes flickering across him, like he was the most important thing in the world. It was a face that possibly he had been waiting for a long time, a face that he had pretty much given up hope of ever seeing - turning him bitter, gruff and angry on the outside.

...

"It was an old girlfriend?" Sienna quizzed some more, not dropping it. She could tell she was embarrassing him, but she was curious. That side of him was so mysterious.

"Nah," he replied, sliding his hand over her back as she pressed into him closer, allowing him to inhale her scent.

 _She hadn't been a girlfriend, Daryl had never seen her again after that. But the older foreign woman had changed his life. He hadn't been quite the same under-confident, defensive and beat up kid he had been before she had come into his life. He had become more of a man about things._

 _Despite having then gone on to sleep with numerous women over his adult life, Daryl had only used what she had shown him on two of them, before Sienna. Only two had been worth it - or so he had thought._

 _The first had been a prostitute. Part of a group of slutty women that always used to hang around Merle and his low-life acquaintances. Women that Daryl tried to avoid if at all possible. This girl though, had been different. She had been new, young, and Daryl had been able to tell straight away that she wanted to be anywhere but where she had ended up. For the first time ever he had been pleased when Merle had encouraged him to take a girl back to his bedroom. He could still picture the girl now - she'd had big, sad looking blue eyes, long blonde hair and a sprinkling of freckles. She'd looked a little like Sienna! She'd acted distant and aloof, as she had started to strip for him. That had then quickly turned to a little terror as Daryl had pushed her back on the bed. "I aint gonna hurt you," he'd grunted…._

 _She'd left his room a lot more relaxed, with almost a smile on her face. Daryl had wanted to ask to see her again, he'd wanted to take her away, he would have married her then if he could. But he couldn't, and she had left and he'd forgotten her, except for every now and again he would wonder about what had happened to her. Where she had ended up._

 _The second had been a girl he had thought he had taken a liking to, a friend of a woman Merle had been messing around with. Turned out she hadn't been worth Daryl's time though, she'd been screwing around behind his back and stealing from him too. Confirming what he had suspected all along, woman weren't worth his time._

 _He hadn't bothered since. Sex had just been a means to get off if he needed it and there was someone available. That was until now…_

He ran his hand over Sienna's hip, his guard coming down, he still couldn't quite believe he was here with her. After the shitty hand he had been dealt in life, good things like this didn't happen to him.

But she was still looking at him intensely, her eyes still questioning him. He knew he had surprized her a little. Shown her that there was another side to him, in more ways than one.

He debated whether to confess his story to her. He was fairly sure she wouldn't judge him. But he decided against it. Instead he tapped her arm and snapped, still with gentle eyes, "Stop looking at me like that. I ain't about to ask you all about your history."

She let out a little laugh and looked away. Knowing to drop it. She slid her hand up his bicep. Moving her lips to brush across his stubbled cheek to find his mouth. Drawing him into a deep kiss.

He responded by pulling her closer, blood rushing around his body. Her leg finding it's way to wrap over him as the kiss sped up and she started to move on top of him. His hand on her lower back.

Before they could take it any further the shrill beep of Sienna's phone rang out.

"Shit," she exclaimed, breaking apart from Daryl. Suddenly remembering she had thrown her phone down the night before in the heat of the moment and hadn't thought to check it. It just seemed so bizarre to have a means of contacting people out here. She had almost forgotten it existed.

"Shit," she repeated, rolling over to reach her hands down to fumble around on the ground to find it.

She put it to her ear. There was a signal, but it was faint.

"Where the hell have you been?" It was her colleague Louis.

"Long story," she replied, looking over to catch Daryl's eye as he watched her with concern. "We had an incident, a run in with two guys."

"Jesus, you okay?" Louis asked, shocked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I'm with Daryl. I'll explain when I see you," she said calmly, holding the sheet around her as she perched on the side of the bed.

"Well, just get your ass back here. Shit's gone down and Munroe needs everyone to re-group," Louis responded.

Sienna looked over to Daryl, who nodded back at her from where he was propped up on his elbows looking over still, his hair over his eyes. "Sure," she said to Louis. "We'll get there as soon as we can." The line went dead before she had the chance to ask him any more questions. In particular whether Sam, Amelia and Suki had made it back.

Putting the phone down she immediately reached for a hair band to twist her hair up on top of her head. "We've got to go," she said to Daryl.

He nodded seriously, "Okay."

The moment had gone. Their bubble burst, they had jobs and people to think about. It wasn't just the two of them, they knew that, they had to move on. It was time to come back down to earth - for now.

 **A/N - Thanks for reading as always. I have the next few chapters planned out, and further along the line, we will be seeing most of the other TWD characters appearing in this story too...**


	14. FOURTEEN

Feeling a lot more relaxed than he had done the day before, Daryl leaned back against the chair he was sat on in the hidden cabin in the woods. Resting one foot up on the table in front of him he was examining his crossbow carefully. It felt good to have it back in his hands as he worked in silence. The only sound was the running of the shower through the slightly ajar bathroom door.

He paused to flick back his hair, satisfied everything was in working order he put his crossbow down and sunk back to take a rare, quiet and thoughtful moment. Looking around at the basic but comfortable log cabin, buried deep within the woods with all it's hidden treasures below, Daryl could quite honestly say he would be happy to live out the rest of his days here. In peace. Away from the rest of the world. With Sienna.

A brief fantasy running through his head of coming back from hunting to find the fire roaring and the beautiful blonde tucked up in a chair writing into her notebook. Her huge dog lazed out at her feet. Just the three of them, living a simple life out here. No complications. Decent food, comfort, companionship and love-making. Lots of love-making. Bliss.

Sienna had asked him what he was surviving for, the day before out on the road. At the time he'd honestly had no idea, but now, here, he knew.

His attention turned to the sounds coming from the bathroom, where she was still getting cleaned up. He licked his lips, dirty thoughts suddenly filling his head for a second. It hadn't gone unnoticed that she'd left the door open a little. It would be easy for him to slip in, take a good look at her. Again. His groin started tingling. He'd seen her naked for real now and it wasn't an image he would be able to get out of his head anytime soon.

But he knew there was no time for any of that now.

The door to the bathroom swung open fully as Sienna appeared, she was fully clothed in blue skinny jeans, and a cream coloured cardigan. Her crystal blue eyes looked over at him as she dabbed at the ends of her damp long, blonde hair with a towel.

Daryl drew in a breath, realizing he was just staring at her.

"Bathroom's free," she said with a smile. "I've left some shower gel in there for you, if you want t."

"Thanks," he replied, swallowing hard. She smelled, sweet, fresh and clean again. A smell he thought he'd never get enough of.

…

Stripped of all his clothes, Daryl stepped under the shower. The pressure wasn't great and it was lukewarm at best. But he didn't care. The fact he had bothered at all was a miracle.

'What is it about this chick that makes me wanna clean up all the time?' he thought to himself as he allowed the water to bounce off his long hair, throwing his head to shake it from side to side.

Back on the road, and at the prison and Alexandria even, Daryl would have gone for literally weeks without going near a bar of soap if he could get away with it. He knew he was filthy, but he just didn't care. Carol had offered to wash his clothes for him on many an occasion and give his shaggy, greasy hair a trim, but he'd always refused. Feeling like a naughty, teenage boy again. Not that there had ever been anyone around that had given two shits about whether he'd showered or not when he had been a boy.

With Sienna though it was different. He knew in part the prospect of getting laid again was partly behind his reasoning to want to get clean. Dirt and stale body odour were hardly the most alluring things to the opposite sex. Not that she'd had much of a problem with it the previous night. But somehow she had also made him feel that he was worth more than just a greasy, redneck who didn't wash.

Part of him didn't want to wash the scent of her from him though. The scent of sex. It had awoken something in him, made him feel alive. His testosterone levels raised. He had no idea whether it would happen with her again, but if he had anything to with it, it would. That side of him had been shut down for a long time, but she had more than fired it up again.

His mind skimmed over how it had felt to be with her and he instantly felt himself get hard.

He lathered up the coconut and vanilla shower gel she had left out for him, massaging it across his scarred body. He could just see Merle's face in his head, mocking him. _'Growing a pussy there, baby brother, smelling like a lady boy?'_ But Daryl didn't care. Merle wasn't there. He knew it wasn't the most masculine of scents, but it was better than the sterile, clinical smelling soap they'd had at Alexandria. Besides he liked the smell, because it reminded him of the blonde that had given it to him. Making his insides twitch even more.

He switched the shower off and rubbed himself down quickly with a towel, trying to get his head straight. He knew they had to make tracks quickly and there were still plenty of dangers out there. He had to forget about the night before and switch back into survival mode.

...

He found Sienna crouched down stuffing some bottles of water and packets of food into her backpack. She looked up, and flashed him a smile. Her hair was tied up in a pony tail again and her skin looked flawless and dewy. He still had no idea how she managed to look so damn near perfect all the time.

"You good?" He asked, moving his still wet hair away from his eyes.

"Yeah," she replied, standing up and doing up her bag. The sight of a clean Daryl making her whole body flutter a little.

...

"Shame we gotta leave this place," Daryl mumbled without thinking, as he wedged the door to the cabin shut from the outside, they'd agreed not to mention it's existence to anyone else.

Daryl didn't have too many happy memories, and the one from last night had to be up there with one of the happiest, most incredible experiences of his life. Soon to be a memory. It had just been sex with a pretty girl, but the way she had responded to his touch, the way she had made him feel as their bodies had connected, that had been something else.

If he died tonight, he knew he would die happy.

"It's a place we can re-visit whenever we need to," she responded a little dreamily.

He narrowed his eyes for a second as he looked at her, confused. Before he got it. She wasn't talking about actually physically re-visiting it. He'd been referred to a shrink once, one of the conditions that had kept him out of jail. That mandatory shrink had talked a lot of garbage, but one thing she had said to him back then, was to always have a place in your head that you could go to if things got too much. The memory or thought of something that made you feel good. Daryl had thought that had been a crock of shit at the time.

Maybe now though all these years later, there had been a point to it.

"Come on," he said, cocking his head to signal for Sienna to follow him, he didn't want to dwell on it.

…..

The trek back to the truck seemed to go much faster than it had done the day before. Daryl had a new healthy stride to his step as they followed their tracks back to the road. Holding his crossbow high he fired at something moving in the greenery.

"Got you," he announced, darting over to tug his arrow out of a motionless squirrel.

Sienna folded her arms and shook her head, "You shoot everything that moves?" she asked, raising a brow.

He stood up and turned back to her, replying with a smirk, "Habit I guess."

"You've never had to survive out here, have you? Never had to fend for yourself," he continued, returning to her side holding the dead squirrel up.

"Nope, not exactly. But if I ever find I have to, I can see you're the man to know," she joked, raising a brow as she watched him stuff the squirrel into his bag. "Gross," she muttered. "You're not really going to take that with you, are you?"

He shrugged, "There's good meat on that."

She shook her head, smiling to herself some more, as they wandered on in a comfortable silence.

...

"You okay?" Daryl asked as Sienna suddenly stopped for a moment.

"Yeah, just thought I heard something," she replied, glancing around her, her face completely serious now. The woods were starting to give her the creeps.

"Nothin here," Daryl said, standing close to her as he looked around too.

She nodded, "Yeah, it's probably nothing, I've just got a weird feeling... We really need to get back to the others."

'We're nearly back at the road," Daryl reassured, as he touched her arm.

Sienna smiled again to herself, it was just a little gesture, but Daryl touching her arm like that wasn't something he would have done the day before. Things were different between them now. She had half wondered if Daryl would have appeared to have regretted what had happened between them the night before, but so far it was the opposite, he seemed to be more relaxed and open with her. Happier.

…

"Start it up," Daryl yelled, from where his head was in the hood of the engine after having fitted the battery with ease into their temporary truck, drinking from a bottle of water at the same time.

Sienna turned the key, firing up the engine immediately.

Daryl took a swig of water before slamming it shut and turning to open the driver door. "Move over, I'll drive," he said loudly.

Sienna shifted herself over into the passenger side, "What's wrong with my driving?" She asked with a smile.

"What's right with it," Daryl replied with another smirk, as they pulled away.

Sienna screwed her face up at him, before turning to wind down the window, allowing the breeze to blow the front of her blonde hair across her face. Calming her nerves a little now they were back on the road.

She looked over to where Daryl was sat next to her, he was wearing sunglasses with his long hair falling into his eyes, one hand was resting atop the wheel, the other was holding a cigarette. He looked so damn sexy, she was more than ready to climb on top of him and continue their unfinished business from earlier that morning, before they had been interrupted by Louis contacting her.

She bit her lip and looked away. Her thoughts turning back to her missing friends and her beloved dog. If she lost Suki out here she wasn't quite sure what she would do. She had sent her faithful, four legged friend, off with Sam and Amelia as she had sensed that it was the right thing to do. Now she wasn't so sure.

Daryl shifted his gaze away from the road for a moment and over to where Sienna was sat beside him gazing out of the half open window, her hair fluttering slightly, her eyes wide and vacant.

"Hey," he said, getting her attention, "You alright?" Concern appearing on his face from where he was looking at her behind his dark glasses. He placed his other hand holding the cigarette on to the wheel, freeing his other one up to gently touch her shoulder.

She turned her head and the feel of his hand lingering on her a little longer than would have been appropriate before, made her instantly smile back at him. "Yeah," she replied, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"Aint no point worrying yourself, we'll be back there soon enough," he said calmly, his voice a little softer than his usual gruff tone. He didn't want to bullshit her, he know well enough that anything could have happened, but he also knew at times like this you needed to keep your head.

"Mmm.." she mumbled.

His hand lowered and he found hers, wrapping her fingers in his for a moment, giving her a reassuring squeeze.

Sienna felt a rush of warmth. She couldn't deny she didn't like this new side to Daryl. He just seemed a little more confident and less uptight after the night they had spent together. Perhaps that had just been what he had needed to chill him out a bit. Sex. Incredible sex at that.

Her eyes fluttered closed for a moment as she was hit with a heady rush, and delicious flashback to the night before. To Daryl's sweaty, muscular body on hers. The dull ache between her legs reminding her she had most certainly not imagined it.

The thought of it happening again, was creating all sorts of further sensations in her too, as her emotions flipped between excitement at that, and genuine concern for her friends.

Having Daryl by her side though seemed to make everything just that little bit better.

He could have left her back at the truck to go back to his people, but he hadn't. Showing Sienna he did genuinely want to be here with her. Which she was more than glad about. This couldn't be the end. She knew she was falling for him now and she hoped he was falling for her too.

She reached for his hand again, causing a jolt of electricity to hit them both as they drove on in silence.

* * *

Sienna slid out the truck, tightening her blonde ponytail. She could clearly see Munroe and most of the other guys stood around the stationary military vehicles. Her heart-rate sped up as she searched for her friends.

As she approached them with Daryl behind her, she spotted Louis.

"You made it back," he said with a relieved grin. Giving her a friendly hug.

Sienna's eyes warmed as they broke apart. It wasn't often she got separated from her two work buddies and a smile appeared on her face to see Louis's kind eyes and smile.

Her wide, blue eyes then scanned the rest of the group. Her smiled widening, as she spotted the groomed, light brown hair of Sam, with Amelia and Suki behind him. She rushed over to Sam first, wrapping her arms around him tightly, crushing him. A hit of relief rushing through her to see her friend was alright. She never would have forgiven herself if anything had happened to him, after she had gone off with Daryl two days before to help him locate his bike and possessions.

Daryl stood back and watched as Sienna hugged her friend.

"Easy, you might want to buy me a drink first," Sam joked, a little taken aback and secretly flattered at the depth of emotion she was hugging him with. They had become close friends out here.

Daryl narrowed his eyes, he didn't quite get the British sense of humour, but he could tell Sam was really happy to see her too.

As the hug broke apart and Sienna turned her attention to Amelia and Suki. Sam's eyes met Daryl's. "Good to see you back here, man," Sam said, offering his hand to Daryl. He didn't have to say anything more as Daryl took his hand and shook it briefly. Sam was Sienna's friend and he was grateful to Daryl that no harm had come to her.

"Yeah, you too," Daryl responded, with a nod of the head.

Daryl stepped back, lighting up a smoke as he quietly took in the sight of Sienna reuniting with her group some more. He knew he should feel like an outsider, he barely knew them, they had different accents, backgrounds, clothes, life experiences - but there was something he liked about them.

He then thought back to his own group, the people he had been with since the beginning of all this. Rick, Carol and the others. He knew he should feel guilty that he had barely thought of them over the past 24 hours, but he hadn't. He missed them, but he didn't miss how he had felt when he was with them. Bleak, a little lonely, and for the most part quite desperate. His only goal to stay alive another day, even back at Alexandrina he had never quite been able to picture a rosy future. Something had felt off.

Maybe now he was still on a slight high from the night before, from getting laid by one of the hottest girls he had ever laid eyes on. But, here, with these people, Daryl felt like there could be a chance of a better future.

"Dixon, you made it back. You had us worried there for a moment," Munroe suddenly appeared by Daryl's side and said. "Heard you had a run in, took out a couple of rebel's."

Daryl looked over at the ex CIA agent. "Was nothin," he replied, playing it down, blowing out smoke in front of him.

"Maybe to you," Munroe replied. "But you saved one of ours, I don't call that nothing."

Daryl squinted at him through his hair, confused how Munroe could have known already about what had happened with Sienna.

"Take a walk with me," the older man said.

Daryl dropped his cigarette to the ground, stomping on it with his boot as he nodded and turned to follow him.

* * *

As Sam, Louis and Amelia fired questions at her, Sienna looked up to see Daryl had disappeared. She looked through the rest of the people stood around, catching the sight of Alex leaning back against one of the vehicles watching her. He looked slick and handsome as he casually stood there.

He gave her a genuine smile as she caught his eye and she looked away.

"I've got some awesome footage to show you," Sam said, holding his camera up to Sienna, as she turned her attention back to him and the other's. A sudden uneasy feeling hitting her. The plan was to camp out in the same spot they had stopped at on their first night here, before heading back to the base. But what if Daryl had decided to head off now? He hadn't said anything to her, about staying here with them tonight.

She chewed down on her thumbnail, distracted, as she saw Alex heading her way.

"Good to see you back blondie, heard you had a run in," Alex said, his tone sincere for once, as his dark eyes looked her over.

Sienna had wanted to snap something sarcastic back, but something about his tone stopped her as she simply replied. "Thanks, you too." He might be a total ass most of the time, but when it came down to it, she knew he cared.

* * *

Daryl followed Munroe into the back of one of the trucks, the one parked furthest away.

"Have a seat," he said to Daryl.

Daryl perched down as Munroe handed him an electronic device. He looked down to see there was a screen on it displaying a photo of the two dead wolves he had killed the day before.

"Scroll through," Munroe said.

Daryl flicked through to see more shots of the same thing. He looked back to Munroe for an explanation.

"We'd been tracking those two sonofabitches for a day, when we went past there yesterday evening and found them like that." Munroe explained. "We didn't realize it was you that had taken them out, but the look on your face now certainly confirms it. The first guy, the one on the right, he's one of the leaders we think. He killed two of my men before he got to you. He's a tough mother fucker. You did well, Dixon."

Daryl looked back at the image. It was the man that had been tormenting Sienna, and a surge of anger hit him again as he remembered vividly what had gone down, what would have happened had he not got there when he had.

Daryl sniffed, putting his hand up to his jaw. "He had it coming," he replied in a low, rough voice.

"We're not sure who the other one was with him, but we know there is still a group of them out there, further south of here. Dozens possibly, taking over everything they can. We managed to capture a group of them, they told us that much."

"What you gonna do?" Daryl asked, thinking back to the old woman he and Sienna had met and her story. A sudden feeling of anxiety hitting him as he thought of Alexandria and how vulnerable they could possibly be.

"We're going back to the centre for back up, this area isn't safe anymore. The infected are coming in. The only way that can be happening is if the rebel group are killing people and turning them." Monroe explained seriously, referring to the wolves.

Daryl's eyes narrowed as he processed what the other man was telling him.

"But that isn't the only thing I wanted to talk to you about," Munroe went on to say. "You did good out there, Dixon. You led my men when you needed to, you kept Kavannagh and her group safe."

Daryl flinched at the mention of Sienna's surname. He'd only heard someone refer to it once before. But it sounded official. A heat spreading up his cheeks, thinking of her, as he forced himself to re-focus on Munroe.

If Munroe had any inkling that there was anything going on between him and Sienna he didn't let on, as he continued, " I knew it the first moment I saw you. You have skills out here that we haven't seen in a long time. Most survivors we pick up, have either turned psychopathic or are damaged beyond all repair. But you know exactly what you're doing, you're tough, level headed. We need you, Dixon, so we want to offer you a job."

Daryl blinked several times as he stared back at Munroe's serious face. No-one had ever said they wanted to offer Daryl a job like that before and he was a little speechless.

"I'm not going to lie to you, these last few days were a sort of test, but you've more than proved yourself." Munroe said, to a still quiet Daryl. "This doesn't just stop at me either, there are people much higher up in command. The world might not be operating how it was before, but you can use that to your advantage. We are taking steps into something that will sooner or later resemble our old way of life, and if you work with us now to be a part of that, they will see you are taken good care of in the end."

Daryl narrowed his eyes some more. None of this was making much sense to him. But he was ready to listen further.

"When things start to calm down a bit, you'll be re-paid handsomely, provided with a place to retreat to somewhere and given privileges. You're in a good position, Daryl. Your experience surviving out there has done that."

"I dunno," Daryl responded eventually, he was pretty taken aback. He felt in a way that he wanted to be a part of what was going on here. But he couldn't just sign his life away, he couldn't just forget about his original group, and he wasn't ready to give away their exact location yet either.

"Think about it, you don't have to give me an answer yet," Munroe stated, buying Daryl a little more time. "When we get back to the centre we can talk again."

* * *

"Soup?" Sienna offered Amelia, as they sat outside their newly pitched tent and she offered her some from the pan she'd heated up over the small fire they'd started. It was just the two of them and Suki.

"Thanks," Amelia replied, taking the steaming cup.

"So, I've told Louis he has to share with Kyle tonight as I'm going in with Sam." Amelia announced as she clutched her soup.

Sienna raised a brow as she blew on her steaming cup. Wondering why her friend was making a point of telling her that.

"So, you'll be on your own in there tonight, I'm afraid," Amelia continued, gesturing towards their tent with her head, before taking a sip of her soup and quirking her lips up slightly. "That's if there isn't anyone else you wanted to share it with!"

Sienna shot her friend a suspicious look, Amelia knew about her and Daryl.

"I'm sure Bear Grylls would be happy to oblige," Amelia added with a smirk this time.

"What?.." Sienna questioned, hesitantly. Trying not to laugh at Amelia's nickname for Daryl, she wondered if he would even know who Bear Grylls was.

"It's written all over your face," Amelia quipped. "Plus the tension was getting a little unbearable before you two took off together alone. Hopefully you've worked through all that now."

"It wasn't like that," Sienna protested.

"Like what?" Amelia teased some more.

"You know, I didn't plan it or anything, it just happened," Sienna continued as she sat crosslegged, clutching her soup in both hands.

"Well, as long as you know what you're doing, I know how weird you are about guys and stuff," Amelia said a little more seriously.

"He's not what you think, he's a decent guy," Sienna spoke up in defence of Daryl, she knew he could appear rude and a little rough around the edges, but there was another side to him that she wanted her friends to see too.

Amelia sipped her soup, her exotic dark eyes studying Sienna's face for a silent moment, before she spoke slowly, "I believe you..about Bear Grylls….. and lets face it he has that whole rugged, sexy unwashed been living in the outdoors thing, going on…" she added with a twinkle in her eye.

Sienna let out a loud laugh, causing Suki to stir her head upwards from where she had been dozing on the ground next to her, just as a dark figure approached them and Sienna looked up to see Daryl stood in front of them.

"Umm.. Hey," he said a little awkwardly. Looking from Sienna to her brunette doctor friend.

"I'm gonna go and catch up with the others," Amelia said, excusing herself to get up and leave Sienna alone with Daryl.

"Something funny?" Daryl asked brusquely as he perched down next to Sienna.

"Not really," Sienna replied, "You want some soup?" She asked, spooning some into a cup for him.

"Thanks," he replied, relaxing a little as he sat closer to her, he had to admit it was good to see her more relaxed again and back with her friends.

"Where did you go?" she asked, watching him sip his soup, hugging her arms around her knees, her blonde hair falling down around her face.

"I was with Munroe. He's offered me a job," Daryl blurted out, his tone a little awkward and hesitant.

He had already had a chance to think about Monroe's offer, his head was telling him one thing, his heart another, and he wanted to hear what she had to say, without her thinking he was being too clingy all of a sudden. As far as he was concerned she thought he was going back to his group, perhaps that was how she wanted it? The insecure side of Daryl couldn't help but think.

"Oh," she responded, her blue eyes shimmering in the dark. "I thought he would. You've impressed them."

He shifted and put his hand up to cover his mouth, "What do you think I should do?" he asked, his dark blue eyes meeting hers straight on.

She held his gaze for a moment, her heart leaping out of her chest a little, before she said, "I can't tell you what to do, Daryl. It has to be your decision."

He nodded once and looked away into the night, feeling a twinge of disappointment. But he wasn't sure exactly what he had expected. She was hardly going to beg him to stay and take it...

TO BE CONTINUED.

 **A/N - Second half of this chapter will be uploaded soon, with some more hot action. It turned out quite long so I thought best to split into two! Thanks again for reading, reviewing and following/fav. x**


	15. FIFTEEN

_**a/n - Thanks as always for the interest in this story! I love writing it and have so much more story to tell :)**_

* * *

Daryl gripped his soup, his body tensing as an uncomfortable silence broke between him and Sienna. She bit her lip as he took a long hard swallow. The two of them gazed awkwardly at one another the heat between them undeniable and almost stifling. They had no doubt what subject was lingering on the other's mind.

What was going to happen next?

The intensity of the moment became unbearable to Daryl so he coughed quietly into his hands and muttered, "Decent fire, you got going there."

"Used to be a girl scout," she replied with a smile, lighting up her eyes for a second. "Been on my fair share of camping trips where I had to get a good fire going."

"Bet they weren't real camping trips." Daryl responded with a smirk, peering at her through the hair falling into his eyes.

"Hmm.." she responded with fake annoyance.

"Bet you had safety matches, and you made sure to take your hair straighteners and cell to call mom and dad," he grunted.

"That what you think of me?" She replied, looking a little hurt.

He froze, he hadn't meant to sound like a dick as a look of slight panic crossed his face as he wondered what to say next.

She smirked and gave him a friendly shove, "You're easy to wind up, Dixon…Wow, you really think you got me pegged, huh? You're wrong by the way….There were no hair straighteners or beauty products of any kind, and I don't even think I owned a cell back then... But who the hell would go on a camping trip without matches?"

He rolled his eyes and looked down at his boots. On first impression you could be forgiven for thinking a girl that looked like her could be spoiled and shallow. But having got to know her better, Daryl knew better. Sienna was nothing like that. For starters she wouldn't be here now if she was.

He looked back at her mesmerising face, the sprinkling of freckles running across her nose, her sapphire-blue eyes and high cheek bones, with her blonde, poker straight hair swept across her forehead. She wasn't caked in make-up, she was a natural beauty and to him she was fucking perfect.

He swallowed hard again, his insides twitching. He pushed his hair away from his face.

"Well, you still never had to hunt down your own food out camping," he retorted with another smirk back at her. She might not be pampered like some girls were, but her idea of camping trips in her younger years, were still going to be nothing like his had been.

"True, you got me there, you're just the best," she laughed.

They fell silent again, before Daryl cleared his throat to change the subject back to his offer to stay around.

"They said… if I stayed on and worked with them, they'd repay me well," he mumbled, his dark blue eyes flicking over to meet hers to gauge her reaction.

"They will," she replied seriously, realizing by the look on his face and his tentative tone that he wanted her to say more. He was looking for her approval in some way. Almost as though he needed that before he could decide for himself what to do.

"The new world needs people like you, Daryl," she commented, lightly.

"Yeah, well maybe you gotta keep reminding me that," he responded.

She smiled and her eyes softened, "No, you just need to remind yourself of that."

He looked at her through the hair falling back into his eyes again. He knew she had a point, as he had a sudden flashback to another conversation he'd had with a girl alone in the woods not so long ago. Beth had told him the same thing the night they had got wasted on moon-shine. He had listened then, but somehow it had become lost on him again.

He knew he shouldn't rely on Sienna or anyone else for anything. He liked the British blonde, she made him feel good, but it was just a crush. He'd never had a girl as pretty and sweet as her show interest in him before. But his head was telling him that was no reason to abandon his original group.

He stiffened up, "I got people to get back to," he mumbled in a low voice, gazing at the diminishing fire in front of them.

The sky darkened and Sienna's heart sunk. "You can't go back there alone without back up, it would be madness, you know what's out there," she stressed.

He squinted at her. "Aint got much choice."

She chewed her lip and her eyes widened. For a brief moment, Daryl wondered whether she was about to offer to go back with him, which he knew would be madness.

Instead though she said passionately, "You should tell Munroe about your community. You know it makes sense. They could help them, take them back to the refuge camp."

"Nah," Daryl said brusquely, shutting her down.

He trusted these people more than he had done a week or so ago, and he could see Aaron had been right, they were part of something a lot bigger trying on some level to restore order. But he knew what would happen if they found out about Alexandria.

"If I tell them about Alexandria, they'll go in guns blazing, they'll close it down, take them all back to quarantine," he continued roughly. The way he saw it, he didn't have a choice. This didn't have to be goodbye forever, but he had to go back to his group. He had to make her see that, no matter how much it might pain him. Because he hadn't taken what had happened between them lightly and he wanted to find a way to let her know that.

Sienna flinched at hearing the name of his community for the first time. He was really starting to trust her and she didn't want to screw that up. She could tell he didn't trust easily.

She moved her face towards his voice in the dark, her eyes still wide and alert with concern. She knew she couldn't lie to him. Something like he feared probably would go down if the military found out he had a sustainable community out there - especially if there were kids involved, they would definitely be brought back to the UN centre one way or another.

"They wouldn't be harmed," she said softly. "It might not be such a bad thing. Do you really think they can sustain their way of life there forever?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe…maybe not. Aint my call though. I should at least go back to give them the choice, the facts…If, I go back, I can do that. We can decide as a group what to do." His tone turned hesitant again. His group had kept him going through the dark times, he owed them. But he was really starting to think he didn't want to leave, because he was needed here too. It was a dilemma.

" _If,_ you make it back," Sienna responded passionately again. A slight wobble in her voice. She needed to let him know she cared.

He let out a long sigh as they sat silently next to each other again, staring out into the dark forest. Just the two of them with Suki the dog by their side, the hum of voices from the rest of the soldiers and their other group, coming from not too far away. Where their tents were set up around them for the night out here.

Sienna suddenly felt her eyes moisten slightly at the thought of him going out there alone. She knew she got too emotional at times like this. But she'd come to accept that was just who she was.

"You can't risk it, Daryl." As the words escaped her lips, she immediately detected the implication of her voice that gave away too much of her real feelings.

Daryl blinked several times, turning to stare at her. The exhaustion and stress of the past couple of years were starting to catch up with him, now that he'd had the chance to pause a little. He didn't know why, it was almost instinctual and it unnerved him, but as he stared at her face, something told him that he couldn't allow himself to be separated from her. In his entire life he had never felt drawn to another person as he did at this very moment.

Sienna could tell Daryl was torn. He was loyal and he didn't want to abandon his people. But she also knew that if he stayed, sooner or later he would see the sense in travelling back to them with more people for back up. She didn't know his group, but she wanted them to be safe and she knew they would be properly protected back at the UN centre. Rather than in the middle of a red zone, with violent psychopaths on the loose and dangerous herds of infected people still wandering around.

If he went back to them now, she was also aware that there was a good chance she would never see him again. Sienna knew there was no way she could let that happen. He needed something more from her now - a reason to stay.

She sucked in a breath and yawned suddenly, looking across at Suki, the big dog's ears were pricked up as her inquisitive, wise eyes looked back at Sienna in an unspoken communication. The fire had almost completely burned out.

"We should take shelter," she announced, her tone altered again.

She crawled over to unzip her tent, her round blue eyes throwing him a look to suggest he should follow her.

He studied her curiously, before slowly standing up to walk over to the tent entrance, bending down to go in behind her. He half wondered where Amelia had got to, but figured she wasn't planning on coming back to sleep here tonight. If Sienna wanted him to stay in here with her instead he wasn't about to argue.

"She alright out there?" He asked, referring to Suki.

"She's an outdoors dog, she's used to it. She'll bark if anyone comes near," Sienna explained. She knew Suki was just as happy being outside as she was to snuggle up inside. On nights she felt in need of a little extra comfort, Sienna would encourage the large animal to sleep by her side. This night wasn't one of those.

Sienna flicked the switch on her small flashlight, dimly lighting the tent as she crawled over to where her sleeping bag was, shining it over the area. She didn't want to let on to Daryl but she always tried to do a quick insect check before she laid down. A running joke between her, Amelia and the boys. She prayed there wouldn't be anything there on this occasion, the last thing she wanted was to freak out in front of Daryl again if there was a massive spider lurking.

"Sorry, I've only got one sleeping bag," she apologised in a hushed voice as she unzipped it to lie it flat. Looking over to see Daryl was already lying back with his hands behind his head. "We could share?" She suggested.

"Aint a problem, you have the sleeping bag, princess," he responded with a smirk and wink as he propped himself up on his elbows to watch her. He had wanted to say he would share a sleeping bag with her anytime she wanted, but he knew how that would come across. Besides, sleeping bags had always been a luxury that he had known he could do without. He'd always given them away to the women in his group.

She pulled off her cardigan, feeling hot in the cramped tent, knowing she would probably be cold again later into the night in just her skimpy tank top. She sunk back too, to lie next to Daryl. Their bodies close, brushing against each other but not obviously touching one another.

Sienna looked back and let out a chuckle tinged with embarrassment, "I'm no princess," she replied and her cute smirk softened him a little as he edged slightly closer to her.

"That so," he responded in a low voice. His hand finding itself drifting to her waist.

A smile flickered in her blue eyes as she looked back at him, relaxing Daryl and sucking him in. He didn't want to think about what was going to happen after tonight. But right now, he just wanted to relax with her, even if it was just for one more night.

She edged in a little closer to him, so she could breathe in his scent. He smelled of her vanilla and coconut shower gel, mixed with his own masculine scent and a hint of cigarette smoke. She liked it.

Daryl took a deep breath, normally his body tensed when someone got too close, at times actively flinching even. But with her, like the night before, it just felt nice and normal.

He knew at this moment he wanted to get even closer to her, his face moving to find hers in the dimly lit tent. His mouth slowly connecting with hers all over again as he remembered how incredible it felt to get this close to her. The taste of her soft lips, making him tingle with sexual awareness. He rubbed the pad of his thumb along her high cheek bone as the kiss deepened, his tongue darting into her mouth as his other hand touched the smooth skin on her back under her top.

After a minute, they broke apart for air, but Daryl knew he needed more. He reached over to her, to pull her on top of him so she was straddling him. His erection straining against the fabric of his trousers and crushing against her groin. She kissed his neck lightly, while undoing the buttons on his shirt, before trailing her mouth down his deeply scarred exposed body. He knew she could feel the raised scar tissue with her lips and tongue as she caressed him tenderly with her mouth, but his chest and stomach held a fraction of the damage his back did and at that point he was grateful she couldn't see or feel the area that he never let anyone go near.

Her sweet lips continued to travel further down his body and half of Daryl wanted to stop her, now, while he still could. The other half was too turned on and lost in the moment to think about that. She kissed the area around the bite scar on his groin before she turned her attention to the waist band of his trousers, moving her hand up to undo the buckle to his belt.

Before he knew it she was holding his hard cock in her hand, her breath hot against his inner thigh as she teased him. Then she wrapped her lips around him.

"Fuck," Daryl groaned, his head falling back as she licked, sucked and pulled just the way he liked it, her tongue flicking over the tip of his cock as he thrusted his hips up, his hand tangled in her long blonde hair as he screwed his eyes closed. He knew if she carried on like that, she was going to make him cum in seconds.

Her mouth moving up and down him.

He groaned again long and low as his whole body shuddered and convulsed and he felt his orgasm start to build, his hand still in her hair as he arched his hips up even more and exploded violently into her mouth. His body trembling with aftershocks.

"Fuck," he repeated in a deep, rough voice. _He could get used to this_ , he thought, as she peered up at him through her long dark lashes. Her cheeks pink as she flashed him a shy smile.

It was in that moment, he knew - _He wasn't going anywhere, anytime soon._

She shuffled back up the tent to lie with her back to him, taking his muscular arm and wrapping it tightly around her waist, so he was pressed against her back.

He sensed she was shivering a little.

"You cold?" He asked in a gentle voice.

"A bit, but I'm always cold," she replied a little dreamily.

He responded by instinctively holding her a little tighter, projecting his body heat onto her. Sienna closed her eyes, feeling warm and fuzzy all of a sudden.

The tent was in complete darkness now, the flickering light having finally gone out as Daryl lay with Sienna in her arms still. He was surprised at himself, he would never had pictured himself in this position. He didn't, or more likely up until recently, had thought he physically couldn't, get close to someone this intimately. He'd certainly never shared a tent with a woman like this before. He'd slept next to Carol many times, but there had always been a reasonable distance between them. He'd never wanted anymore. He'd hated all that lovey dovey crap. Or so he'd thought.

 _But, maybe he just hadn't found anyone that had made him want to be like that? He was coming to realize._

Now, here with Sienna, he was discovering what he had been missing - what Maggie and Glenn had, and Rick and Lori had once had, he thought, lying on his side in the dark, breathing in the exotic scent of her freshly washed hair.

"I don't want you to go," she suddenly said, in a voice so quiet it was almost a whisper.

Daryl felt his heart melt slightly, no-one had ever said anything like that to him before. When he had decided to leave his group back at the prison briefly to go off with Merle, Rick had tried to persuade him to stay, but Daryl had known first and foremost that had been down to them needing him, rather than simply wanting him there.

He let out a satisfied sigh. If he'd still had any doubts on first entering the tent, about the blonde girl in his arms wanting him around - he sure as hell didn't now. Perhaps allowing himself to start to get close to her would be a mistake, but right now, he didn't care.

"I aint going anywhere." He replied, in a low voice.

'We'll go back and get your people - when the time is right," she mumbled sleepily.

He nodded into her soft blonde hair, wondering if this could possibly be what it felt like to be happy.

He would go back to Alexandria, he would tell Eric about Aaron, and inform Rick and the others about what was going on outside their world - but not just yet.

He allowed his tired, aching body to to press closer into her's in the dark.

His eyes closing as he drifted into a deep, dreamless sleep.

* * *

The following day, Sienna hoisted her things up onto the truck, brushing the front of her hair to one side as the early morning sun shone down on her. There weren't many people around, just her and Suki and a few of the soldiers. Daryl was helping pack up elsewhere.

Out of the corner of her eye she spotted Alex watching her, from where he had appeared and was standing amongst the soldiers.

"What?" Sienna asked a little irritated, flashing him a questioning look.

"Nothing," he responded, shrugging.

Sienna felt her cheeks burn a little, she shifted uncomfortably with the way Alex was looking at her. It was different to how he had looked at her the day before. It was as though he was fascinated by her, and was deep in thought about something. She could tell he knew about her and Daryl. Chances were if Amelia knew then the word would have gotten around quickly. But Sienna didn't care, it wasn't a secret. Everyone was screwing around out here, most of all Alex, he had not right to judge her.

She knew Alex had a thing about any survivors that came in, he had been the same about Kyle the young guy they called the sniper kid, and others before him and Daryl. Alex said they couldn't be trusted, due to their humanity having been compromised, they could never properly come back. Sienna wasn't stupid, but for the most part she thought that was bull-shit. Just because someone was damaged it didn't mean they couldn't be trusted.

"Well, lets get a move on then," she snapped, turning away from her fellow journalist to step up onto the truck.

* * *

Daryl reached for his binoculars, peering out of the window of the large military vehicle they were travelling in across the bleak, run- down and deserted roads. He hadn't been paying that much attention to the world outside the window, but something had just caught his eye, he was certain he had spotted smoke in the distance.

For the most part of the journey so far, he had been quiet and thoughtful from where he was sat next to Sienna as she had been busy reading. They were grouped with the rest of her work colleagues and friends who had been casually chatting, mainly commenting on the barren landscape flying by outside the window, their interest still roused by the sight of the burned out buildings, empty gas stations and abandoned vehicles. The signs of a world that had been cruelly destroyed. Daryl, though, had become desensitised to all that shit a long time ago. His world before had never been particularly bright and colourful, so it was never as though he'd had a whole lot to miss now that the entire country had turned to ashes too.

"What is it?" Sienna asked, noting his tense body language as he peered through the powerful lenses of his binoculars.

"We've gotta stop," he said in a low voice. There were people out there close by, he was sure of that.

…..

"It's coming from that direction, not too far away," Daryl said to Munroe, pointing with his finger to where he had spotted the smoke, as they stood outside their stopped truck in a discreet lay by.

"Okay," Munroe responded with a quick nod of his head. "We'll go and see what's there."

It was Munroe and Daryl, Jenkins -a British soldier and Munroe's right hand man, plus two other soldiers, Kyle and Sienna that set off.

Daryl glanced at Sienna beside him, "You shouldn't be coming," he muttered gruffly.

"Yeah, I probably shouldn't, but I might be able to help," she replied with a half smile, studying his sullen expression. He was probably concerned she would cause him trouble again and he'd have to come to her rescue. But she didn't just want to wait around back at the truck, while he went off. She knew she wasn't the toughest member of their group, but she could help in other ways. Munroe had no objection to her being with them. Apart from Amelia she was the only one that had any kind of basic medical training left amongst them now, the other army medic, had been one of the two that had been killed by the wolves earlier on their trip.

Daryl was aware of that fact too, as he shrugged and they carried on walking. He knew it wasn't his place to tell her what to do either. He was starting to learn she had a stubborn streak.

He just knew he didn't want anything to happen to her.

He focused his attention on tracking, there were new prints, someone had been here recently. He gestured with his hand for everyone to follow him, his body tense as he held his crossbow up.

They didn't have to go much further, when a man mysteriously appeared from the trees. With his long matted hair and dirty face there was no mistaking he was a wolf, even before the W on his forehead came into sight. He was smiling and holding up a shot rifle.

"Afternoon," the strange looking man said politely.

Daryl looked him over, noticing immediately he had a sheriff's hat tied around his neck.

"Where d'ya get that hat?" Daryl demanded in a tone so fierce, it caused Munroe to widen his eyes, exchanging a look with Jenkins.

The long haired wolf shrugged, "Found it," he replied.

"Where?" Daryl responded, his tone, deep and rough. He remembered only too well that last time he had seen a hat like that.

"South of here, can't remember exactly," the wolf continued, aware he was taunting Daryl.

"You tell me where you got that, or I'll put an arrow in your eye right now," Daryl yelled this time.

Sienna furrowed her brow, her blue eyes studying Daryl's pained face. She wasn't quite sure what significance the hat held for him. But the last time she had seen him this fired up, had been when he had saved her from the two other wolves, a couple of days before.

"Easy, Dixon, we need to get him to talk," Munroe cut in, his weapon raised too. Glancing to his right to see Jenkins had his back. The tall, fair haired British guy, had his gun pointed at the strange looking wolf too.

"I'm saying nothing," the wolf mocked, grinning wider.

"Then we'll have to shoot you," Munroe responded in a cool voice.

"Then shoot me," he said, holding his hands up.

Munroe turned to look back at Daryl for a split second, they both needed him alive for different reasons, they would have to change tact.

Then everything seemed to happen in slow motion. The wolf took advantage of the brief moment of distraction and drew his rifle again, aiming at Munroe and firing. Jenkins threw himself over to try and shoot back, but the bullet from the rifle hit him before he had the chance, striking him on the chest. He fell to the ground. The wolf turned to dart back into the trees.

Daryl was quick to respond firing at the back of the fleeing wolf, putting an arrow in to his back, causing him to topple to the ground. Before he fired again putting another one in him, blood pouring from it.

" _No,"_ Munroe exclaimed rushing back to Jenkins, where Sienna was already crouched down by his side. "Why the hell wasn't he wearing his vest?" he exclaimed as he looked down at his friend bleeding on the ground. Helpless to help him.

"There's a pulse, but it's weak, it's hit his throat, he can't breathe," Sienna explained in a shaken voice. Pushing her hair behind her ears as she knelt down to try and desperately perform mouth to mouth.

"Go back and get Cheung," Munroe ordered Kyle, from where the younger dark haired guy was looking on in shock. Kyle quickly nodded, starting to move to find Amelia, the only person who could possibly save Jenkins now.

"It's no good..we've lost him," Sienna announced, her eyes glistening with tears as she moved away from the man she couldn't save. Jenkins had been a good man out here, and she knew he had a family back in England.

….

Daryl kicked the body of the disgusting wolf member to turn him over. There was blood pouring from his mouth, he was dead. His body looked limp and lifeless, but his eyes quickly snapped back open. Daryl flinched, noticing the grimly familiar, red, blood-shot look appearing in his eyes, as his mouth turned up and he starting snarling. He was coming back.

Daryl was quick to reach for the knife he always carried on him, violently stabbing it over and over into the re-animating wolf's head. Putting him down once and for all. Cursing and yelling as he did it. He suddenly stopped, realising everyone was watching him.

He snatched the sheriff's hat from the beat up body on the ground. It was covered in blood. He clutched it tightly, the fresh blood covering it making it impossible to examine it fully. He felt his own blood run cold, about what the red stained hat in his hands meant.

With his knife still in his hand, Daryl turned his attention back to the others, to see the lifeless body of Jenkins was lying on the ground. Sienna was knelt by his side, Kyle behind her and Munroe a little further away with his hands behind his head.

At that moment Daryl couldn't focus on anything but the immediate scene before him. He looked from Sienna's glossy eyes, to the body inches away from her and he was sure he saw it twitch. Within seconds he found himself next to it, once again thrusting his knife with all his strength into a dead body's scull. Preventing it from coming back to haunt them.

This time though, he felt himself disappearing too. He wasn't in the woods anymore, with these people he had so unexpectedly found himself joining.

 _He was back at the prison with his old group. He was killing one of the governor's men, desperately trying to prevent them from taking the only real home he had ever known. There was noise and chaos all around him, he was losing everyone… Then he was no longer in the prison, he was walking a long, empty stretch of road, Rick and Carl were by his side. Rick was carrying ass-kicker. A walker appeared from no-where and tried to grab Carl, Daryl grabbed his knife and stuck it clean into the rotting beast's forehead, then another appeared and another, and he knew he couldn't possibly fight them all off as he kept stabbing one after another with his knife, but they just kept coming.. and exhausted he fell to the ground in a heap, his eyes closed. Then he felt a hand on his shoulder, a female voice was calling out to him, "Daryl..Daryl… open your eyes. Come back."_

He forced his eyes open, to see Sienna's wide blue eyes full of concern and shock. Her hand gripped his shoulder, calming him. Daryl quickly realised where he was. Experiencing a brief and intense sense of complete and utter relief. Until he saw Jenkins dead body beside him still, blood pouring from the gash in his head where Daryl has stabbed him in panic.

"What were you doing?" Sienna asked. "He was dead!" She exclaimed, referring to how Daryl had struck the soldier in the head with his knife. "He wasn't going to come back, Daryl. He didn't have the virus!"

Her words were still ringing round in his head as they silently made their way back to the truck, and he gripped the blood splattered sheriff's hat still.

Sienna didn't say anything to him about it as he tucked it into his bag back on the truck. She knew it must mean something, but neither of them were in any kind of mood to talk about it, right now

The mood on the truck was sombre as they made their way through the night back to the UN centre. They had lost three of their men. Two, were taken out with Munroe and his group when Daryl had been with Sienna. The third, Jenkins, had been part of Daryl's original group. Daryl hadn't spoken to him much, but he had seemed like a decent guy and certainly not one that had deserved to die like he had. It was just another shit reminder that no matter what happened, you just kept losing people now.

* * *

Dawn was breaking, as they finally got back and everyone wearily climbed off the trucks. Daryl looked to Sienna, her hair was falling out of it's ponytail and her eyes looked tired and sad. She had been quiet the whole journey back and he was starting to wonder whether his outburst back at Jenkins body had changed the way she saw him.

Despite that though, he walked by her side as they made their way back to the living area, where both their temporary homes were. His, a small apartment that he and Aaron had been allocated in a large block set aside for refugees, her's a building a little way away located in the half empty press quarter.

He hadn't expected to find himself back here, walking closer by Sienna's side than would have been appropriate before.

The air was fresh and new, as they calmly wandered along. Looking around him, it seemed like another life to Daryl now, being here before, when so much had happened to him while he had been away. He realized he'd had some pretty life changing experiences in that short time.

His mind filling with memories of the intense and passionate night they had shared back at the hidden cabin in the woods.

They stopped walking at the entrance to her building.

"You okay?" He found himself asking her in a low voice, his face serious and full of concern as he studied her face, wondering what she was thinking.

She turned to look straight into his eyes, her blue gaze shimmering as she broke into a weak smile, "Yeah…I'm just shattered, I've got a load of work to do tomorrow to meet my deadlines, so I'm going to get some sleep."

His heart sank a little, before she added tenderly, "You coming?" Touching his bicep and gesturing with her head to the door inviting him to join her, before getting her key out of her pocket to unlock it.

Daryl felt a fluttering, the corners of eyes crinkling as he walked in behind her. He knew he'd made the right decision coming back here.

The thought of being separated from her was starting to send him into a near panic, not just because of the new found physical pleasure she gave him, but because she had quickly become his lifeline, the only one capable of providing him with comfort and making him feel as though he wasn't alone in this frightening new world.

 _ **A/N - Thanks for reading. Please leave a review if you can. I also hope everyone is enjoying the romantic moment's between Sienna and Daryl, and they're aren't taking over?! They seem to just be writing themselves! This is a story about Daryl finding love, but there is also a lot of adventure, action and complications with that along the way, as he struggles with the ZA world, with Sienna by his side.**_


	16. SIXTEEN

a/n Thanks everyone for reading and reviewing and a special shout out to jeanf for all your reviews and comments :)

As some of you have mentioned - Daryl is really torn here, but there is a good chance the rest of the TWD characters are going to be featuring soon in a few chapters time!

Enjoy this Daryl/Sienna focused chapter!

* * *

 _ **Enjoy the little things, for one day you will look back and realize they were the big things!**_

* * *

Daryl cleared his throat, about to fill the growing silence in the quiet room.

"So, I didn't make it back to Alexandria in the end. I was planning on going back, you gotta know that. I got my bike and stuff back, they were right back where I left em! Like someone had been guarding them, or some shit. But…"

He swallowed deep and hard, his clammy hands covering his mouth as he perched on the edge of his seat. He moved his head to flick the hair out of his eyes. He knew what he wanted to say, but his words were coming out all mumbled.

"S'a long story." He muttered, stopping again. The last time he had been here, sat at his friends bed-side, had been just before he had set off on the journey that he had presumed would take him back to Alexandria. Somehow, he had ended up back here though, without returning to their group like he had promised himself he would.

"But.. things have changed a bit. Things have happened. I had to make a decision." He stopped to lower his head and rub his temples, he was trying to justify his decision more to himself than anything.

"So, I came back here. Because it felt like the right thing to do. Because, I think I can try and make a difference and be a part of what they're doing here. I can see now you were right when you said not to be too hasty, this place _is_ what it says it is - and you gotta believe in summat sometime - else what's the point, right?"

He took a deep breath his voice coming out low and gravelly. "The rest of the world is trying to sort this mess out. Can't explain how I know - I just know. I've seen things and ….for now I think I should stay here…"

He paused again. His expressive dark blue eyes travelled from Aaron's motionless body still wired up to the hospital bed over to the glass window behind him, where he saw a familiar blonde had suddenly appeared.

"It feels right." He mumbled, catching Sienna's eye as she smiled back at him through the glass, warming him up inside. "I think you'll know what I mean." He added, smiling back at her before turning his attention back to Aaron. "When something feels right. You should trust your gut. Aint that what you always said?"

He stopped talking, just as Aaron's eyelids flickered and his little finger closest to Daryl twitched.

Daryl felt a brief glimmer of excitement, before Aaron lay deadly still again.

Daryl knew not to get his hopes up, Amelia had explained that it was just involuntary muscular spasms. It didn't mean Aaron was controlling them. Although Daryl would never give up hope, that one day his friend would open his eyes again for real.

He cleared his throat again. He wasn't a man of many words, but here with Aaron in the calm and peaceful hospital room there were things Daryl wanted to say.

"I'm gonna go back there though, we both are, man. Because you're going to get better real soon and I don't know whether you can hear me or not, but I just wanted you to know I'm still here and I'll be right here when you wake up. You're not alone. We'll go back to Alexandria…But right now it's complicated and it aint gonna be that easy to get back now. They've shut down the borders between zones, no-one is allowed into a red zone at the moment. But believe me when I say I _will_ go back. I'll never abandon our people…..But right now….right now….here is where I need to be."

He stopped talking and stood up, staring at his friend a little more. "You just hang on in there, man. You're in good hands here..… I'll come back and see you again when I can."

He walked out the room to greet Sienna. She immediately smiled and moved in to wrap her arm around his neck and plant a small intimate kiss on his stubbly cheek, pushing her body into his affectionately, letting him know he wasn't alone. An exchange between lovers.

She had been working all day and it had been the longest time Daryl had spent apart from her since they had returned from the trip. He brushed the hair away from his vision so he could look at her properly. Her bright blue eyes, were fluttering their long lashes back at him as she continued to smile.

Now that they were back here, she seemed to wear her long blonde hair loose most of the time and falling around her shoulders with the front thinly braided and swept to one side. She looked so damn beautiful to him. Natural and gorgeous. It made his insides flutter everytime he looked at her.

He threw Aaron one final look, before he turned all his attention back to Sienna. Twitching his lips up into a smile for her, he put his muscular arm around her waist as they walked out arm in arm.

For the moment, just her mere presence had curbed any immediate dark thoughts he had been having. She made him happy. She lit him up inside.

Daryl knew if Aaron, Rick or any of his old group could see him now they would be more than a little shocked. This was a side to him they never would have expected. He was quiet and sullen a lot of the time, but also loyal and dependable when it counted. However, he had never shown any signs of being able to be open and romantic around the opposite sex - _never!_ If anyone had shown the slightest interest in him like that, he had shut it down immediately with his indifference and aloofness.

Here, no-one knew or cared what he had been like before he had arrived. Even Sienna. They just took him on face value, which he liked. He didn't have anything to prove to anyone.

* * *

It had been four days since they had returned from their eventful journey out to the area again he and Aaron had first been picked up. But in some ways it felt more like four years to Daryl.

Munroe had announced when they had got back that the borders between zones were on lock down, making it near impossible for Daryl to get back to Alexandria now on his own, either way.

In the short time he had been back, Daryl had changed, he wasn't the same person he had been when he had first arrived here. He knew the best way to help his old group was to sit tight for now and work out a plan.

They had returned four days ago at sunrise. The first almost twelve hours, Daryl and Sienna had just slept. Curled up in her warm comfortable bed, they had crashed out together wrapped up in each other's arms. Daryl had never fallen asleep with a woman like that before. He had also never slept so deeply and contently before in his entire life. All he had wanted to do was close his eyes and take comfort from being there with her in a place that felt relatively safe. Thoughts of their last encounter with the wolves, having been at the back of both their minds as they had allowed sleep to find their weary bodies.

Daryl had woken that first night to darkness and the smell of exotic perfume on his pillow, and he'd known exactly what his body had needed. Her.

She had roused too at the same time, as his hands had found themselves all over her again, touching her everywhere. There had been nothing on his mind except hot-blooded lust and desire. The need to be so close to her, to be inside her again.

Their passion had exploded on that first night back, as their newly rested bodies had found each other again, drawn together with some sort of magnetic electricity that they couldn't explain. Daryl hadn't had the focus or energy for that kind of thing when he had been with his group before. Neither, had he had the strong pull to another person in the same way that he had with Sienna.

But waking next to her, it seemed to be the only thing he had been able to focus on.

Daryl had quickly found himself resting back against the headboard, her thighs on either side of his waist. Her long hair falling around her face, over her shoulders and down her back, as she had pressed her large breasts against his muscular chest and he had gripped her hips tightly. His breathing had quickened and his heartbeat run rampant. He had felt as though he had been floating on air all over again. Her shimmering blue eyes had looked into his so intimately as his hands had roamed freely up and down her smooth skin.

She had continued to look at him as he had desperately thrust his aching cock inside her again and they had slowly fucked as he gripped her hips with both hands, and groaned with pleasure as he held her gaze.

His heart had throbbed heavily from inside his chest. No-one had ever looked at him like that before. No-one had ever been able to hold his gaze at such a personal, vulnerable moment before. To see behind his eyes like that, deep into his soul.

It had felt good. It had felt as though he was home, the moment he had growled into the side of her face as he came deep inside her body. The intensity of the orgasm, together with the moment, had jolted something awake in him.

Not once had he regretted his decision to return since then. He knew he had needed this for a long time. To keep him alive. To keep the blood running through his veins and his heart beating.

It had happened on several further occasions since that first night too. In the short time they had been back, Daryl felt as though he had spent most of his time in bed with her. It hadn't just been about sex either, they had chatted and he had felt as though he had met someone that didn't judge him, that would actually listen when he talked.

* * *

Now, here, on day four, he was taking the chance to reflect on everything. He had visited Aaron every day. But this had been the first time he had worked up the courage to actually sit down by his bed-side and talk to him, properly. Whether Aaron could hear him or not, to Daryl that was a big deal.

...

"How is he?" Sienna asked as they stepped outside into the late afternoon sun. At this time of day, there weren't many people around as they strolled along. Just the two of them and Suki who had been waiting patiently outside, and now as always was trotting along at their heels. Daryl liked their canine friend being there, Sienna's dog provided a real comfort to both of them.

"No change." Daryl mumbled. He felt his body language stiffen a little at the question as it forced him to face some reality.

Sienna had worked all day and Daryl had met with Munroe to talk strategy, before visiting Aaron. It had made him realize he couldn't stay up on their cloud forever. That wasn't how life worked. There were bad people out there still, there was a deadly unexplainable virus that had wiped out most of his country's population and was threatening to do more horrific damage each day. Aaron was in a coma that he may never wake from. They were hundreds of miles from their group and now Munroe had announced no-one was to go back to the red-zone his old community was situated in. It was a fucking mess.

Daryl knew he had to debate whether he should confess to them about Alexandria, or whether he still needed to work something out on his own.

Sienna glanced sideways, she could tell by the way Daryl had screwed up his eyes and dropped his head he was feeling troubled. She reached her hand out to wrap her fingers in his, to give him a reassuring squeeze. She knew she couldn't bull-shit him, they had no idea how it would work out with Aaron. There wasn't always a happy ending.

"He's lucky to have you." She said with a small genuine smile.

He gripped her hand tighter and looked back at her, his hair sliding into his eyes. Did she really mean that? Was anyone lucky to have him? Didn't people close to him just end up dead in the end?

"When he wakes we'll be here for him." She said, as they carried on walking. She needed to make him see that he didn't have to shut his feelings away anymore. He didn't have to be alone.

"Yeah." He mumbled back. He didn't want to dwell on talking about Aaron. Seeing his friend like that had made him feel immensely sad, there was nothing he could do, nothing except wait.

"Walk down to the beach with me?" Sienna suggested, pulling her hand out of his to shield the late sun from her eyes and glance across in the direction of the sea. She sensed he needed to be some place quiet and peaceful and the beach at this time was the perfect place.

He jerked his head in agreement. His eyes creased as he looked from her big concerned blue eyes to Suki's wagging tail beside them. He wondered in that instant, how it was possible he could feel so happy, and then so sad at the same time?

They walked leisurely, the fabric of his jacket brushing the cotton of the light gray cardigan she was wearing over a fitted white top and blue skinny jeans. Daryl liked what they had become to each over the past few days - they were sleeping together, but there was a growing friendship there too. They cared about each other. Nothing had exactly been defined, being with her was just easy.

"You get your work done?" He asked, changing their thoughts away from Aaron. The smell of the ocean getting closer.

She sighed. "Kind of, I submitted my story, and there is only so long I can stare at a screen in a makeshift editing suite in the back of Sam's van. So I told him I needed some air."

Daryl squinted at her as the beach came into full view and they stopped at the edge of the sand. Her eyes were the same blue as the ocean.

Hearing her mention her work still amazed him. He just couldn't quite get his head around what she did out here. That she actually had a job that didn't revolve purely around survival. A job that seemed to belong in their old world, before the change. She had virtual deadlines and work colleagues. She wrote news stories about what was happening to the world, she helped make short videos about it. She got stressed about it. She had told him most of her work got rejected at first, that the media outlet she worked for made her re-word her work all the time - which she hated.

Daryl just couldn't get his head around it.

"Come on," she exclaimed as he stood staring at her. She turned to lead the way along the empty sandy beach. The only sound being the waves crashing in and out, filling the air with salty spray. The water gleaming with the last rays of sun. Suki immediately sprinted off into the distance causing a trail of wet paw prints to pattern the sand.

Walking along in the serene atmosphere, Daryl had never realised how relaxing the coast could be.

"You speak to Munroe?" Sienna asked, as they perched down on some rocks to gaze out in front of them at the vast sea of blue.

"Yeah, he said I could have a few days to settle in. Then we'd talk about where they wanted me to go." Daryl replied, his hair blowing back away from his face with the strong wind from the sea.

He took a deep breath. He had been surprised Munroe had said that when they had met for the first time earlier that day. But he was kind of glad that the ex CIA guy hadn't suggested anything too adventurous for him straight away. Daryl had needed the short break. He had needed to try and make sense of everything.

He leaned back against the rock. His body ached, but for once in a good way. It wasn't stored up with pain, physical tension and frustration. He had been more than fulfilling his basic male urges recently, releasing a lot of his tension. Getting regular sex, really fucking good sex, for the first time in years, was making him relax in a way he had never done before. He was almost less angry with the world. Nothing had changed. But perhaps he had. Perhaps he could see things differently

He sniffed and drew in another breath, his hand seeking out hers this time. The sky was turning from blue to pink as the sun sunk on the horizon over the water. The world was still beautiful despite the ugliness that had be-fallen on the majority of the human race.

"I love it out here," she said dreamily. Her hair fluttering across her face as she leaned into his shoulder a little.

Daryl didn't do romance, he had never done romance. He had hated all the smooching couples back at the prison and Alexandria. But this, right here, he thought to himself - was just about as near to damn perfect romance as you could get. He should be acting awkward, he should be trying to run, but instead he simply sat back and enjoyed the moment. A few weeks ago he would never have imagined himself in this situation.

"It reminds me of home," Sienna added, still looking in front of her at the rippling waves and setting sun.

"You grow up by the sea?" Daryl tilted his head and asked, as he peered straight at her through the dark hair blowing into his face. His eyes creased with curiosity. He didn't know much about her. Part of him liked it that way, the insecure side to him didn't want to know who she had been before, in a world he knew he would never have fitted. But another part of him was dying to know every last thing about her.

"Yep, a few thousand miles in that direction is where I grew up," she replied, looking at the sea.

"You think you'll ever go back there?" He asked.

She shrugged, "Some day."

He fell silent for a moment, he didn't want think about her going home. Not now. Not ever.

Sienna leaned into him a little more. She had forgotten how magical the first tingles of love felt. It was early days, she knew that. But being with the outwardly gruff, secretly sweet guy, that she had found out in the woods not so long ago, _was_ the the spark of something. She felt sure of that. Whether it was just going to be an intense but brief love affair, or something longer lasting she couldn't say. All she knew was it felt amazing. Daryl might appear cool and like to act the tough guy, but Sienna had a feeling she was only scratching the surface of finding out how big his heart could be.

They had made love four nights in a row, he had held her each time afterwards. She had felt him tremble, he had felt her shudder and she knew he had sensed her need to be wrapped up in his strong arms. They had both been vulnerable for different reasons. She had seen his scars and felt his pain pouring into her as he had been inside her. It had made her want him even more. She had wanted to comfort him, to tell him how sorry she was for his suffering. One day she knew she would.

For now though she was just content to be here by his side. Her eyes swept over his profile next to her as he sat relaxed back on the rock in his dark coloured jeans, leather jacket and shirt. His hair blowing over his face, revealing his brooding good looks. He was enough to make any girl go weak at the knees.

"Do you think they'll be looking for you?" She suddenly asked, biting down on her lip. It was a subject she had been waiting to bring up ever since they had arrived back.

He looked at her again, pushing his hair back. He had asked himself the same thing. Would they have gone out to search for him and Aaron? Or would Rick and the others have just accepted - _if_ he and Aaron could have returned they would have done? At the prison if people went out on runs, the rest of the group just prayed they would return safely. Plus, Rick had been pretty caught up in other things back at Alexandria before they had left that last time and they hadn't exactly seen eye to eye.

But then again, there was the hat. Daryl couldn't shake that from his head.

He put his hand up to rub his jaw. "I dunno." He mumbled in a gravelly voice in answer to her question.

Her eyes flickered with curiosity as she pressed him further, "The hat? Did it belong to one of your group?"

He lowered his head, his chest falling and rising with rapid breaths. "I dunno..I think so." He eventually replied, lifting his chin up to look at her again.

He sunk his teeth into his bottom lip as he tried to process it all and analyze the facts.

The sheriff's hat had been so covered in blood and dirt from the guy he had killed, that Daryl couldn't be certain it had been the one Carl had been wearing. But his gut was telling him there weren't going to be many hats like that around.

He felt sure Rick was still alive though, Carl too. Carl hardly ever wore the hat anymore, in fact Daryl wasn't even sure if he'd still had it when they had arrived at Alexandria. He could have lost it anywhere. If the group had been in the area looking for him and Aaron, Daryl would have picked up their tracks, they would have left signs for him. They hadn't. Which told him, that if they had been searching they hadn't ventured out as far as the place he and Aaron had been ambushed - and he had found Sienna. The place the wolves seemed to be operating.

Sienna leaned in towards him and quietly asked. "Was one of your group a sheriff?" Pressing her lips togethe to patiently wait for his response. She knew, getting him to open up was never going to be easy.

"Rick, our leader, was a sheriff's deputy before all this." Daryl replied slowly.

"That's like a law enforcement officer?" She questioned. They didn't have sheriff's in England.

He nodded.

"What was he like?" She asked, she could sense by the emotion in his eyes, that the man he was talking about had meant something to Daryl.

"A good man. Kept us all going for months." Daryl responded, sadness clouded his features as he remembered how things had been becoming a little fraught between him and Rick, before he had set off that final time with Aaron.

"I'm sure you had a part in that too." Sienna said, looking him in the eye.

Daryl pondered on that for a second. He had been a vital part of the group back at the prison and on the road. Now, maybe not so much. He wasn't needed in the same way. He didn't really fit with their new way of life, he knew that. They had their own ways of doing things, ways that at times he didn't always see the sense in. He'd felt himself growing more and more distant from them every day, if he was completely honest with himself.

That didn't mean he shouldn't be taken action now though, if he had any kind of suspicion they were in trouble maybe he should come clean to Munroe? But Daryl had already decided to bide his time a little longer and sleep on that thought at least over the next week. He knew how much finding Alexandria had meant to Rick, Carol and the rest of his friends. He wasn't going to ruin that for them.

"You deserve a rest, Daryl. You don't have to do this alone." Sienna said softly, breaking him from his thoughts. She could tell guilt was creeping in and she needed to let him know she was there for him.

Daryl narrowed his eyes, staring straight in front of him. The beach at sunset was so mystical and beautiful, just like the woman sitting beside him now.

He knew there was more out there for him than to just survive back at Alexandria. He wanted to have a real purpose again. To try and help people build a better life for themselves again. He had thought maybe that was what his role had been back at Alexandria. But maybe meeting Sienna was meant to make him see that it was something different.

He dropped his hand to her knee, glancing back at her face, if he was a long way from home, she was even further. But somehow they had found each other.

"You wanna take a ride out on the bike tomorrow?" He asked. "Not sure where though."

Her eyes lit up suddenly, "Actually, there is a place I wanted to check out, Sam and Louie are too busy, but we could go. Might have to make it more than a day trip though, if you're up for camping again?"

His face brightened. A flush creeping up his cheeks, remembering his last experience camping with her. A shot of electricity zapped through him - as his body became aroused, dirty thoughts filling his mind. It seemed the more sex he got, the more he wanted. He had gone years without it being important to him. Now, it possessed most of his waking thoughts.

Sienna blushed, she had only suggested camping over night, but he had that drugged, dirty look in his eye that she was starting to recognise well. She felt a tingle spread over her.

She smiled, enjoying the buzz from the excitement of being with someone new - of wanting to jump on them 24/7.

"Come on." He said, jerking his head back in the direction they'd come. Pulling her up by the hand and whistling to Suki who was still running around halfway down the beach.

The natural light had faded into darkness and he was more than ready to settle in for the night with her again. He knew moments like this were far and few between and he had a feeling there were more turbulent times ahead, so right now he was going to enjoy what he could...

 **A/N - Thanks for reading. Please review if you can. I hope it makes sense why Daryl isn't going back. I tried to add in a plot device to explain why it isn't possible for him to get back there at the moment, so I can keep him here with Sienna for a bit longer! Because I think the loyal side to him would be busting his gut to get back if he could! Also I have another dilemma..I wanted Suki to go with them on their next adventure, but as they are taking Daryl's bike she can't. Because I've never seen a dog on a bike before! Lol. So she'll have to stay behind again! :( Even though, I wanted to show how Sienna and Suki are becoming Daryl's new family**


	17. SEVENTEEN

The air had taken a turn for the cooler as Daryl sped around a sharp bend on his bike, the breeze blowing back his hair and blasting his face. He could feel Sienna's arms around his waist and it felt good.

Normally Daryl wasn't a big fan of having people on the back of his bike; having to be forced to be in such close proximity to someone else was out of his comfort zone and at times had actively made his skin crawl. But with her it felt natural, like she fitted next to him perfectly, her soft body pressing into his, warmed his system.

From the moment he had first spied the beautiful, blonde down by the river and she had later gone on to save his life and bring him back from the brink of a prolonged painful death - she had slowly been bringing him alive like he had never done before. She could be quiet and thoughtful at times just like him, mysterious and deep, but fun too, she had a slightly different take on the world. He liked that. He needed that. Finding her was like a breath of fresh air.

She wasn't exactly _his_ woman yet. She was his friend and lover now too. He enjoyed being with her immensely because she made being in this bleak world a whole lot brighter. Gave him a real reason to live. She was starting to get to know him in ways no-one else had. But his guard wasn't gone completely. He knew it could all end tomorrow - there was no strings yet - perhaps that was how he liked it. _Perhaps..._

* * *

Daryl brought the bike to a skidding halt by a large, dry stone wall and switched off the engine. He jerked his head to look back over his shoulder at Sienna as she loosened her grip around his waist. Her cheeks were flushed pink and her blonde bangs were blown across her face as her long ponytail swept half over her right shoulder.

"You good?" He asked.

She nodded. "Yeah."

Sienna watched as Daryl climbed off the bike with perfect precision. He had done this a thousand times before, he was a pro, it was a way of life for him, riding at speed out here. He crouched down to examine the ground around them, abruptly jerking his head to move his hair away from his eyes as a frown appeared on his handsome lined face.

She quickly climbed off the bike too, a little more shakily.

He ignored her as she fiddled with her hair to straighten it, before she went over to perch against the wall. She chewed down on her thumb nail as she studied him some more, he was stood up now and checking the bike over.

Sienna wondered what had got him into bikes and the outdoors with such a passion. He had given away snippets of information about his past here and there. She knew he had grown up in the mountains of Northern Georgia with his father and brother, but that was about it. There was so much more she wanted to ask him, but she knew she would have to wait for the right time. Getting him to open up wasn't easy, he was pretty guarded, despite their growing closeness.

...

Right now it was just the two of them and they had driven to an area further south, away from the comfort of the military base and the refugee centre. They had started on the tail of a military group out investigating a possible self contained community in this area. Sienna had wanted to investigate the grounds of a 125,000-acre Estate located around that same spot too. A place of natural and historic beauty, it had been open to the public before the outbreak. She had always wondered what had become of it and there had been rumours that there were still people surviving there, which had sparked her interest.

Daryl had come along with her partly because she had asked him to, but also partly because Munroe had thought it would be a good idea to have him go along too after Daryl had suggested it to him, particularly if there were other survivors, Daryl's assets could come into good use. His new assignment working with the international military was in some respects going to be similar to the one he had taken up with Aaron at Alexandria. Using his extensive knowledge and survival skills to scout for survivors to let them know there was still hope out there - as well as checking for signs of danger and bad people. His work assignment would be in exchange for commissary tickets he'd be getting for food and supplies. Daryl was more than happy with that arrangement, he didn't like getting anything for free, he wanted to earn his keep.

Then when the time was right and the borders between zones were easier to travel through again, he would return to his old community, either alone or with people he could trust.

Daryl had been informed that to find self contained communities this far into the outbreak was rare. Monroe had mentioned that most self contained communities had been wiped out, either succumbing to the WFN1 virus completely; becoming over-run by psychopaths; or simply being picked up and taken back to the refugee centre by the international military. Most places that had once held out hope for people in the early days as a safe haven, were gone.

When he had heard this, Daryl couldn't help but keep thinking back to Alexandria, he was more than curious to to find out if there were other survivors like his old group still out there. Just before he had left that last time, he had fought Rick on the issue of whether to search for more people. Rick had been reluctant and had wanted to close their walls, to just look out for themselves. Daryl had wanted to find more people to keep them going.

...

Satisfied his bike was good, he turned his attention to the British girl watching him. The sun was low in the sky, bouncing off her face and lighting up the stray strands of the golden, platinum blonde hair, flying around her face. She squinted to get the sun out of her eyes and smiled at him. A smile that he knew was just for him. Causing his lips to turn up too, as he couldn't help but smile back, looking at her through the hair falling into his eyes, and at that moment the fire he carried inside him burned brighter than ever.

He knew Sienna was here for slightly different reasons to him, she wanted to travel and write about her experience, but she also knew that she might be able to help vulnerable people with her basic medical training and the quick thinking skills she had picked up. She saw a large part of her role out here to not only write about what was happening but to also offer aid and help, even if that meant putting herself in danger. Daryl couldn't help but admire that and it was one of the reasons he was so attracted to her, she was a good person. He knew, miraculously, somehow there were planes and ships going back to Europe - she could get on one of those if she wanted. But she didn't.

...

Sienna watched as Daryl perched down beside her on the wall and she felt a little more secure. It was a pretty secluded area and without the immediate presence of the military nearby like she was used to, she knew she should feel apprehensive and a little scared. But with Daryl she felt okay. She was always on high alert for potential danger, especially give their recent run-ins with rebel psychopaths, but she knew that Daryl more than knew what he was doing. He was someone you would definitely want to be with out here with.

The guy leading the military on this mission was called Trent, he was British too and someone Sienna knew fairly well. He had told them to let out a distress flare or radio in if they needed help after they had gone off on Daryl's bike on their own. It made sense for people to go off in smaller sub groups to search the area, but they should always make sure they could call for help if they needed it.

….

"Here," Sienna said, passing Daryl some food from her backpack.

"Thanks." He replied, taking it from her and stuffing it into his mouth in one quick motion. Causing her to break into an amused smile. She knew she needed to work on his table manners.

As they sat and ate alone on the wall, letting the blue sky and cooling breeze blow around their faces. They both felt as though they had some room to breathe. Comfortable with each other and the outdoors.

Daryl eyes fleeted to the ground. Examining the marks there.

"They're not the marks of the living are they?" Sienna questioned. She had noticed them too.

He shook his head. Licking his fingers after finishing his food. The military had declared this as an amber zone, but that meant that it wasn't entirely free from the infected. It wasn't exactly advisable to travel to these areas, there could still be walkers roaming. Here it looked as though there had been some through not so long ago.

"How long have they been there?" Sienna questioned some more, her blue eyes wide and inquisitive as she fixed her attention back on to Daryl's face, searching for an answer.

He looked over in the direction of the prints and shrugged. "Not long. Probably around a day or so."

A long pause hung in the air.

Daryl noticed a look of slight panic cross Sienna's beautiful symmetrical features. If the prints were new it meant the walkers probably were too, otherwise they would have been dealt with by now. The older ones were slower and easier to spot and catch. New walkers equaled new dead people.

"We should move on further up." Daryl suggested, reaching over to touch her knee, before standing up. "The grounds to the house are just up there."

She bit her lip and nodded silently, tucking her blonde hair behind her ear she stood up too to stand beside him. They both looked down at the marks on the ground again.

Sienna's brow wrinkled with a fresh curiosity. She reached into her pocket to bring out the small camera she carried on her. Pointing it down to take some shots. Knowing it was the first thing Sam and Louie would have done.

Daryl shot her a look, raising a brow. He still hadn't quite got used to her desire to record and write about everything she found.

"What?" She asked as she stopped snapping to flick through her shots and check them.

He gave her a brief dismissive shrug of the shoulders.

"Don't you want our grandchildren to know what happened?" She teased, with a little smile.

He furrowed his brow and looked away, a small heat shooting up his face.

Her comment however innocent had suddenly made him feel a little uncomfortable. A few thoughts instantly flashing through his head. At first it was the just way she had said ' _our_ ' grandchildren, like it was the most normal thing in the world for her to think they would have grandchildren together, when the odds were massively against them even surviving to that age in the first place, let alone them staying together long enough to produce grandchildren with each other. That was i _f_ he even wanted to reproduce and have children. Which his whole life Daryl had thought he hadn't. Why should that be any different now the world really had gone to hell?

But then he relaxed a little, she hadn't specifically implied they would be having grandchildren together, he shouldn't take that shit too seriously. He could just hear his dead brother's voice laughing loudly in his ear at what a pussy he was. She had just dropped in a throwaway comment. He had been too quick to presume that had been what she had meant and he felt a little stupid.

His trail of thought had then quickly turned deeper, to the unimaginable - a world where the next generation would actually survive this shit enough to be able to look up articles and books like the ones she wrote now, documenting what had happened at this point in history - and it made him think maybe she was right, that the end goal was to fight for just that.

He thought of Lil asskicker, the beautiful baby he had seen come into the world and he had been so determined to keep alive. That precious little girl deserved a chance at a future, just like any other innocent young lives in their sorry state of a planet. He had to put that at the foremost of everything he did. He had already let Beth and Sophia down, he couldn't let that happen again.

He rubbed the stubble on his jaw, "Come on." He snapped gruffly not wanting to dwell on it. "We need to keep moving."

...

They walked on in silence. It was the second day they had been out here, the first they had travelled with the military and stayed in their trucks overnight, before now breaking off alone.

Sienna could sense Daryl was tense now all of a sudden by his body language and sullen expression. But she couldn't quite work out what she could have said to have made him sink into a dark mood. She wondered whether it was her taking photographs, but she had hardly been being disrespectful. They were just marks on the ground. She then wondered if he was freaked at the comment she had made about grandchildren. She had just been messing about, but maybe he had taken it the wrong way and thought she was already planning their life together when he was just in it for a bit of fun. She knew guys hated women that got too clingy quickly. But then again Daryl was hardly a typical guy and theirs was hardly a typical situation. So she guessed it must be something else.

They carried on quietly moving, studying the surrounding area carefully with their alert eyes. The stunning mansion coming into view as they made their way across the acres of overgrown, unkept gardens and grounds that once would have been such an area of national beauty.

"You know this had once been one of America's larges homes, now it's just falling to ruin, it's such a shame." Sienna commented sadly as they stopped at the edge to a sign for a rose garden.

"Same as everything then." Daryl mumbled. He hadn't exactly cared for places like this in their old world and the bull-shit that they had represented to him. The rich overpowering the poor.

He looked up to see another sign over-grown with weeds, he brushed a couple to one side so they could read it.

 _Explore the Grounds for Yourself_

 _Hike the grounds of our estate at your own pace with our extensive network of trails. Enjoy a walk along the French Broad River, through lush green forests, or the open meadows of Deer Park. Take a stroll on the 2.5 miles of paths in our manicured gardens._

Daryl shook his head at the irony.

"I think the river is just down there." Sienna pointed. "I wouldn't mind going down there to clean up a bit, if that's okay with you?"

"You wanna go wash your panties, be my guest." Daryl responded with a smirk, turning his head away from the sign. She always seemed to be wanting to clean up. A concept he didn't quite get, seeing as he'd happily trek on for days without wanting to wash.

"I'll see you back here then."

"Wait, I'll come with ya, aint having you going off on your own." He was quick to respond, his tone less harsh. He didn't want her to go anywhere without him. This place was eerily quiet, there were no signs of the living or dead, which unnerved him.

Sienna smiled to herself as he followed closely behind her and they walked into the forest to take the short trail down to the river. He always made sure to go behind her, like he wanted to watch and make sure she was okay. He had his cross-bow in his hands too. He wasn't taking any chances.

...

"This feels amazing!" She exclaimed, throwing her backpack down on to the ground to splash the clear, gushing river water on to her face.

Daryl looked over at her in a little amusement to see she had flung her jacket off and had crouched down to dip her bare arms into the water too.

He removed his leather jacket too and placed his cross bow down, leaving him just in his sleeveless shirt.

"Come on over, it's really clean." She tried to persuade him, glancing back over her shoulder.

He shook his head, just as a sudden gust of wind from the gushing river knocked her off her balance slightly causing her to stumble and the ice cold water to drench her white top. She let out a small scream with the shock.

"You okay?" Daryl was quick to ask, moving over to offer her his hand to help her back up. Not wanting her to get swept in, the river was running pretty quickly and there was a wind picking up, he'd seen it happen before.

"Thanks." She said gratefully, before taking the opportunity to playfully splash some water on to him, drenching his shirt too.

He narrowed his eyes, but his lips twitched up into a half smile as he pulled her away. He shook his head in pretend annoyance. "Come on." He grumbled as she splashed a little more water over him.

"I'm soaked through." Sienna exclaimed, looking down at the fabric of her wet top clinging to her chest.

Daryl's eyes bulged as he glanced at her erect nipples appearing through the now see-through damp tank top she was wearing.

He swallowed hard as he felt a familiar tingling hit his cock, she was so damn sexy. He turned away trying not to allow himself to get too turned on out here. He could just grab her by the arms shove her up against a tree and...

"Good job I brought a change of clothes." She said oblivious to the immediate effect she was having on him, pulling her wet top over her head leaving her stood in front of him in her dark blue push up bra, exposing her stunning curves. She looked like a lingerie model.

He turned away, focusing on making sure there were no suspicious tracks around and bringing his thoughts back to their survival out here where there could be danger at any turn.

She squeezed the water out of her top, still dressed only in her bra.

Daryl peeked back at her through the hair falling into his eyes, feeling like a shy teenage boy now. He had seen her body in all it's glory - but somehow out here in broad daylight it felt different to be staring at her half naked, almost like it was more inappropriate to be having those kinds of thoughts.

His gaze roamed from her breasts, down her stomach to her waist where her jeans sat low on her bare hips. He had never noticed before but out here he could quite clearly see she had some thin silvery lines like scars running down them. He stared at them some more, his eyes narrowing. He didn't mind them in the slightest, he liked the fact that she wasn't completely perfect, it made her all the more perfect to him. Everyone had scars on their bodies these days, the fact that at first she had appeared to have had hardly any on her perfect smooth skin had been a little unnerving.

If she noticed him looking a little longer than he should have done in that area, she didn't say anything as she bent down to search through her backpack.

"You got a spare shirt?" She asked casually, pulling out a navy blue sweater from her bag. "You shouldn't go round in a wet one out here."

He shrugged, his hair dripping a little with the water that had splashed up on to it and he debated whether to bother changing. If she hadn't been there he wouldn't have done. But the air was turning cooler and his shirt was starting to give him the chills a little with the freezing river water. But he wasn't exactly in a rush to be shirtless out here in front of her.

He normally went out of his way to avoid taking his shirt off out in the open in front of people. He hadn't done it in front of any of his old group, he had been careful to only fully undress in private. Not even his own brother had seen the full extent of the scars left from his childhood abuse -that was until the time not long before Merle had died and he had torn Daryl's shirt off when they had been fighting. Daryl had seen the look of horror in Merle's eyes when he had been exposed to Daryl's suffering. His scars were shocking and ugly and they would stay with him forever as a constant reminder of what had happened to him.

Sienna pulled her t-shirt over her head and shook her hair out, "I'll be back in a sec." She said, disappearing into the bushes.

Daryl watched her out of the corner of his eye, before quickly un-doing the buttons to his shirt. He felt a little stupid, she had practically ripped his shirt off him before, while covering his naked skin with her mouth and hands. But that was different. It had always been in a dimly lit room, when lust and getting off had been at the forefront of their minds.

Out here it was more raw and exposed. They weren't making out. It was reality.

Sienna returned quickly to see Daryl had removed his shirt, he had his back to her as he held a dry one in his hands. Her eyes immediately fell to the cruel scars covering the length of his back. He had always tried to subtly position himself so they weren't obvious when he had been shirtless before. Now she could see why. They were awful. But they didn't disgust her at all. She just felt so much pain for what he had been through, how brave he must have been. In that moment she wanted to wrap her arms around him, to tell him how sorry she was, that he didn't have to suffer anymore, that she loved him, she was starting to fall _in_ love with him.

But she knew he wouldn't appreciate that. Instead she kept her distance as he shot her a look, his eyes full of unspoken emotion, pain and a little embarrassment. Before he quickly pulled his dry shirt on.

She walked up to his side and touched his arm, giving him a nervous smile, she bit her lip. "Sorry….. for getting you wet." She added as a sparkle darted over her pretty blue eyes. "I'll make it up to you."

Daryl smirked and looked away. "You'd better." He muttered, before swinging his belongings over his shoulder.

They walked on and Sienna reached for his hand, her fingers were still icy from the after effects of the river water as she wrapped them in his tightly. Daryl didn't object as he enjoyed the feeling of her touch. He knew she had seen his back and he also knew this was her way of telling him without words that it didn't bother her, that she was still there and she still felt the same way. A fluttering hit his chest as he realized at that moment he had never felt so close to another person like this before.

He gripped on to her hand and they made their way back towards the grounds of the huge mansion. Both having been exposed to the other in a way they hadn't been before. There were parts of each other's past they had yet to share with each other, but for now that didn't matter.

The sky was turning gray and the air colder as they hit the edge of another garden. It was full of weeds and had been left to ruin, but there was no doubt that it had once been stunning and alive with colour.

They entered it side by side. Daryl had investigated many random places over the past couple of years in his hunt for supplies and refuge for his group. He'd gotten used to venturing out with Rick, Glenn and Maggie or Michonne. But somehow he'd always kept his distance mentally, remaining quiet and a little aloof most of the time, serious and focused on the task in hand. Back then he had always felt a sense of loneliness wherever he went and carried a sort of sadness around at the desperation of the world.

This time, in this place, it was a little different. With Sienna by his side, he felt different. The world was still the same, dark and deeply depressing. But she represented a hope, a reason to keep going. A chance of something good.

"It's a garden of remembrance." She remarked as they looked around. There were some expensive looking wall plaques that had survived the elements and what looked like the remains of some more rose bushes. They stopped at the centre plaque. The black lettering carved into the gray marble still stood out boldly:

 _A loving wife, mother, daughter and sister._

Neither of them spoke as they both took a moment to reflect on the sadness of the sentiment. Inevitably thinking to their own individual losses.

A slow shiver ran across Daryl. He had lost so many people to the terrible, crushing cruelness inflicted on the world. None of them had received a plaque dedicated to them in a rose bush in a garden of remembrance, but that didn't mean their lives had meant anything less. He would remember them forever.

"I don't think people ever really leave us." Sienna said gently, her hair fluttering around her face. "They might not be physically here, but they're still around, for as long as we need them. Their energy. Their spirit."

Daryl felt a lump form in his throat. He remembered the first time he had allowed himself to cry. It had been when Sophia had died. He had been raised not to show emotion. But his heart had prevented him from sticking to that at the moment he had realized he had lost that little girl, then his brother, then Beth.

His shoulders slumped and he looked straight in front of him. He wanted to tell her about them, about the guilt he carried around in him, he wanted to share that. But he couldn't.

After a minute more he found his arm was around Sienna's waist. He wanted to be close to her and take in her warmth. To take comfort from finding her and from her presence here with him right now.

"We should go in the house." Sienna suggested. Trembling slightly next to him.

Daryl looked up at the side of the big old house. There could be anything lurking in there, the night was drawing in. It wasn't worth the risk. He already knew there had been walkers through here from the prints on the ground. If there were survivors too, by now they were more than likely not the kind of people that would take too kindly to stumbling across two strangers.

"Perhaps we should stay out here by the trees, keep a low profile and take a look in the morning." He responded.

Sienna nodded her blonde head in agreement.

It was starting to get a little darker and a lot colder, she wrapped her arms around her chest, taking one final look at the garden of remembrance.

…

They didn't have to walk much further before they came to a stone wall and an abandoned car. The front was piled high with rubbish and debris with the side door dented in.

"We should shelter in here." Daryl said, looking to the back seat, it was fairly clear and looked big and roomy. It would be safer than pitching the small tent he had in his backpack.

He tried to force the door, it wasn't the first time he had taken cover for a night in a wreck of a vehicle, he was sure it wouldn't be the last. It didn't bother him. He'd strangely always felt more at home in the outdoors, surviving where he could and being free of judgement and rules. Even after the change. He'd always been the first to volunteer to go out on runs and hunting trips. But on this particular occasion he had to admit he was craving the comfort of the four walls, comfortable bed and pretty girl he had woken to each morning back at the military base in the past week he had spent there with Sienna. It hadn't been like Alexandria with everyone living out of each other's pockets, watching each other paranoid and defensive. It had been free and easy.

Sienna watched Daryl's muscles straining as he lifted his leg up to ram it into the door, causing it to give way.

It wasn't quite dark yet but she switched her torch on to give them a bit of extra light as they tumbled in together, slamming the door shut after them. Sienna wasn't afraid to admit she would be terrified if Daryl wasn't there too. Something about the deathly quiet of the place was making her feel uneasy. That and the tracks of the infected they had spotted earlier that day.

"Y'okay?" Daryl asked in a low voice, checking around for anything untoward.

"Yep." She replied in a quiet voice.

Daryl stopped what he was doing to flick back his hair and stare at her for a moment. Her cheeks were pinker than usual and her eyes were round and alert. She wasn't as used to this kind of way of life as he was.

Sienna felt a little self conscious with the intensity of his gaze. He seemed to be studying her in a way he hadn't done before. She had seen his eyes fall on her in a similar way when they had been having sex, but this time there was more of a protective concern in them, mixed in with the emotion he had been starting to show deep within his gentle blue eyes. Like he wanted to make sure she was safe.

She blushed and he eventually looked away. He put his hand up to rub his head. "Should probably try and rest." He muttered, knowing full well there was no way he would be getting any sleep...

 **TO BE CONTINUED...A/N - As usual with this story the chapters are just writing themselves and becoming a lot longer than I had intended, so this one is split into two as well. I hope that is okay? The tone of this chapter may be a little deep and sad, but it is setting up what is to come in the second half...drama, but there will also be something happier :) My intention is to post it really soon. It is all part of a personal journey Daryl is going on, away from the rest of his group.**

 **As always thanks for reading! And please review if you can, they are so so appreciated and motivational!**


	18. EIGHTEEN

**A/N - Happy Halloween everyone! Here is the next chapter. I didn't actually plan for there to be more sweet smut at the start, but I guess Daryl and Sienna just can't keep their hands off each other!**

 **This is one of my favorite chapter's so far, so I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Sienna shifted a little closer to Daryl in the back of the motionless car. She could hear his deep raggedy breaths filling the silence as she huddled against him.

Despite the grim conditions, she slowly felt a sort of warmth spreading inside her. The way Daryl had just looked at her, had told her he genuinely cared about her. It had just been a look, but in that single moment something inside her had shifted and her feelings became even stronger. Sienna knew there would always be a nagging doubt, until that moment, when you realize he is a real friend and he cares.

"You really think we can sleep here tonight?" She questioned, her eyes widening.

"Dunno. But we might as well lie low here for a while." He replied hopefully. He knew from experience never to get too comfortable anywhere. It wasn't dark yet and there didn't seem to be any immediate threats about, but that didn't mean there wasn't trouble around the corner.

Sienna's eyes rested on the window next to her and the bleak landscape displayed outside the shelter of the metal from the rusting old car they had settled in. The wind was blowing through the branches of the nearest tree and the air was looming grey and sinister outside.

"How did you do it? Survive out here for so long?" She asked thoughtfully.

Daryl narrowed his eyes and put his hand up to cover his mouth. His dark hair falling into his eyes.

"Did what we had to do." He eventually responded in a low, rough voice.

"I don't think I could have done." She said hesitantly, her eyes still fixed on the wild night drawing in around them out here in this lonely remote spot.

"Yeah, you could have done." Daryl said firmly.

He shifted his head to look at her through his hair. He hadn't just said that to be nice. Sienna was tougher than she looked. She had the fire in her, she would have made it too had she been with them.

A brief silence fell as Daryl thought back to his time on the road with his survival family. The things they had been forced to do, the places they had been, it almost felt like a dream now. Sienna hadn't been there. But in a funny way it felt like she had been there with him the whole time. Like he had dreamed about her for years even, before he had actually met her. It was a concept he couldn't quite wrap his head around, but one that was there none the less. A feeling he didn't really understand.

"I can't imagine what it must have been like." She said, turning to look back at him too, emotion appearing in her blue eyes as she thought about how hard it must have been for him.

He blinked back at her several times, but didn't respond.

"Your group, where did you find them?" She carried on questioning a little tentatively.

He cleared his throat, jerking his head to toss his hair away from his eyes and he swallowed hard. "When things first started to turn nasty, me and Merle headed out of town to this quarry we knew about. Thats where we found some other survivors…" He broke off, it was hard to think that out of all those people that had started out with them in those first few chaotic weeks, it was now just him and Carol remaining. Even Rick and Glenn hadn't been with them back at the very start, Shane had been the leader until Rick had shown up a few weeks in with Glenn.

Daryl wasn't proud of the person he'd been back then either, some redneck asshole blindly following his brother's orders. Acting like he didn't give a shit about anyone else.

"Why didn't you stay there?" She asked innocently.

"Got over-run. Lost a lot of people."

"Is that when you found your new community?"

"S'a long story." He muttered, looking down at his hands.

"We've got all night." She responded, her eyes widening again, the blueness in them shining out brightly.

Sienna knew it wasn't easy for Daryl to talk about what awful things had happened to him over the past couple of years, but she wanted to know what he'd been through. She wanted to try and understand why he held such pain behind his eyes.

He took a crumpled packet of cigarettes out of his pocket and twisted it around his hands. This conversation had been becoming more and more inevitable.

"We were on the road a lot. Stopping where we could. Picked up more people. But it wasn't safe, no-where was, it was a jungle of death. So we settled in a prison site back in Georgia. It was all we had, and we needed to find some place more permanent…One of our group was pregnant, our leader, Rick's, wife. We had to find some where for her to have the baby."

 _"You have a baby?"_ Sienna exclaimed, her pupils dilating.

Daryl stared at her, his stomach churning, wondering if he had said too much. He trusted her. She had kept her word up until now about not going to Munroe to divulge that Daryl had come from a larger community. But she hadn't known there was a baby there. Anyone with half a heart would have to be moved by that.

He looked her straight in the eye. "Yeah."

Sienna felt her heart jump in her chest, a shiver running down her spine, from the look on Daryl's face something bad had happened.

"Rick's wife?" She asked quietly.

Daryl looked away for a moment, turning the small cardboard box in his hands over and over, faster and faster. He had never spoken about what had happened quite like this before, never been forced to remember the horror of the day asskicker had been born so vividly. None of them had. It had been best that way for everyone. They'd just had to keep going. For their sanity.

But as Daryl was starting to realize, sometimes you had to stop and allow yourself to feel the pain before you could go from, _just keeping going_ , to actually moving forwards.

"She didn't make it. Died in childbirth. Nothing anyone could do." He said slowly, closing his eyes for a moment.

"I'm so sorry." Sienna whispered in the semi dark.

Daryl nodded, opening his eyes to see her face was filled with empathy and sadness. A child losing their mother like that, especially in their world now, was devastating.

"She's doing great now though, the lil asskicker." He said, his eyes lighting up and crinkling at the corners as he thought about Judith. From the first moment he had held her tiny vulnerable little body in his arms, feeding her the first bottle of formula she had so desperately needed to keep her alive and he had been so determined to find - she had brought a bright shining light into their bleak world. She was special and she represented hope.

"You call her 'lil asskicker'?" Sienna asked with an amused smile, her eyes lighting up too.

"Yeah, she deserves it too. She's the toughest little thing I've ever seen," Daryl replied, breaking into a grin.

Sienna's eye's sparkled, she loved seeing the amazing smile he kept hidden away. A smile she planned to coax out of him more and more.

She instinctively pressed herself closer into him. "I'd love to meet her."

Daryl felt a flutter hit him. The possibility of his two worlds colliding was becoming more and more real each day. He could just picture Sienna with Judith.

"You will." He said.

He took her hand to draw her closer to him. Her perfect scent was overpowering the musty putrid stench of the car as he re-positioned his face closer to hers. He was done talking about the past for now. About the fucked-up tragic circumstances that had led him here and he didn't want to be afraid anymore, of what could be out there, of what could happen if he got too close to the thing he wanted the most.

Right now, he just wanted to concentrate on the moment. The moment with her.

His face moved into hers, his heart racing as he quickly felt her soft lips on his again. A part of his mind told him this wasn't a good idea here, it was too much of a risk. But then her mouth opened wider and she drew his tongue in, sucking the breath out of his lungs and his brief moment of hesitation didn't last long, instead he was instant overtaken by his need for her.

Sienna felt safe. They weren't in the comfort of her bed, or a tent in a military camp. But being here with Daryl felt right and in some ways the potential danger of the situation made it even more of a turn on.

His hands moved up to brush her cheek with his thumb, his fingers tangling into the back of her long, silky hair as it tumbled out of it's messy ponytail. A shot of electricity zapped through him as he felt her hands under his jacket and shirt, running up and down his scarred back. Her hands were waking him up, he'd been asleep for years without realizing it, angry and frustrated at life, he'd simply been sleepwalking through, not allowing himself to ever fully open his eyes.

The kiss carried on as Sienna quickly pulled off her jacket and slid her leg with ease over his hips to fully straddle him, her hands concentrating on removing his jacket and un-buttoning his shirt as she shook her blonde hair out of it's loose ponytail to allow it to fall around her face. She moaned slightly into his mouth as she felt his big hard dick pressing up into her, hitting the exact right spot through her jeans.

Daryl practically ripped up her top as she helped him tug it over her head, leaving her just in her lacy bra. Her large breasts were spilling out suggestively, as her hair fell down on to them, she was so perfect. Daryl felt as though he was about to burst with sexual energy.

Sienna continued to move her hands under his loose shirt, savouring the feel of the strong and smooth muscles of his back moving under her fingers. Her body becoming slowly set on fire by the kisses and little bites he placed along her neck as he he used his fingers to brush her hair away.

Encouraged even more by the sounds of her ragged gasps and breaths, Daryl moved his hand up to stroke her left breast. He wanted to un-do her bra to see them in full, her perfect pink nipples and beautiful round breasts. But he still had his guard half up, he knew it was best not to get too carried away, their lives depended on it.

Sienna though had different ideas, her fingers rushed to find his belt buckle and unfasten it. He let out an uncontrollable groan as she wrapped her hand around his throbbing erection. He knew then that there was no way he would be able to stop himself.

His hand was quickly in her panties feeling how wet she was for him, he stroked her clit with his thumb, making her thighs quiver. She squirmed under his touch and spread her legs in encouragement. Seconds later he was pushing her jeans and underwear down around her knees. Allowing her entrance to open fully for his hard cock to thrust up inside her.

They both moaned, careful not to make too much noise, as her hair fell into his face and around his shoulders. His muscular arms gripped her hips hard enough to bruise as she moved up and down on his lap in the backseat of the battered abandoned car they had found. His dark blue eyes so full of desire and emotion, silently looked for hers, sharing the moment together.

Daryl could hardly contain himself with the pleasure spreading through him as his grip on her tightened and he arched his pelvis up to angle himself further into her body. Sienna continued to move on his lap with the perfect rhythm. It was as if when she was with him she instinctively knew exactly how to get them both off at the same time. The tingling between her legs spreading out of control as she let out a sound Daryl recognised well as he felt her orgasm around him. He could feel his own release building, getting closer and closer as his face contorted and he couldn't see for a moment as he spurted up and into her, letting out a deep and rough groan of intense pleasure.

"Fuck, sweetheart." He groaned into her ear, holding onto her for a while longer before he composed himself and loosened his grip, allowing her to slide off him. This was certainly a first for him out here. But it had been a risk worth taking.

Hot and sweaty, Daryl sank back against the torn leather of the seat, putting his hand up to his forehead. The rush of his orgasm had sent his heart-rate into a frenzy. He reached down to yank his underpants and trousers back up, still leaving his shirt unbuttoned.

Sienna was still in her underwear as she discreetly pulled out a packet of baby wipes from her bag. She had learned quite early on that they were one of the most useful and resourceful items to have out here and she was finding out they had multiple uses.

Daryl watched her out of the corner of his eye as his breathing returned to normal and he buttoned up his shirt and bent down to fasten up his boots. He pushed his hair away from his eyes and reached for the cigarette packet in his pocket.

"I'm going to get some air." He said in a low voice, climbing out the car.

He lit up a cigarette and walked around the car to inspect for anything untoward and make a decision on whether they stayed or moved on now.

With Daryl gone, Sienna felt as though she was in a trance. She opened the car door next to her and leaned down over the seat enjoying the feeling of the muscles in her neck and upper back stretching as she traced a pattern in the dirt on the ground with her finger nails, her messy hair falling down around her as the sharp night air hit her bare back.

She heard Daryl's footsteps and she said a little dreamily almost to herself more than anything, "We spend all our time thinking about what we're going to do when things calm down, but when they have calmed down, what next? Maybe we should just accept this is it."

Daryl took a final drag of his cigarette, throwing it to the ground and stomping on it with his boot. He didn't respond, partly because he didn't really have a clue what she was going on about and partly because he knew there was no time to chat. He brushed his hair over his face and opened the opposite door to reach over and grab his backpack and crossbow. Leaning in further he shook the back of her leg, "Come on." He grunted roughly. "We've gotta move on."

He was back in deadly serious survival mode. He had seen a faint light in the gardens, he was fairly certain it was coming from a torch. There was someone out there. He didn't want to take any chances. They had to gain the upper hand by getting closer to investigate without being seen so they knew what they were up against, whether they should hike back to the bike or not, or stay around.

* * *

"Stay close." Daryl ordered, clutching his crossbow as Sienna followed him. She was shining a light from her own torch in front of them both as they silently made their way along the wall to find a gap in the gardens big enough to look through to investigate where the light was coming from.

Daryl lowered his crossbow and held up his binoculars. He squinted through them, it was nearly dark and hard to see, but he could make out the light in the distance getting brighter as it came towards them through the maze of overgrown garden.

"What is it?" Sienna whispered in his ear, her breath hot against his skin.

He ignored her.

Concentrating instead on what was in front him, Daryl could now see that there was just the one light and it was being held by a stumbling, clumsy figure slowly dragging it's feet towards them. If he didn't know better he would have presumed it was a walker.

"It's just one of em.." He mumbled and he lowered the binoculars, holding up his crossbow.

He crouched down down ready to climb through the gap and take care of it.

"Stay there." He hissed fiercely.

"I won't let you go in there alone." She protested.

"Kill the light." He responded in a low voice. He knew there was no point in arguing with her as he sensed her following closely behind him through the gap and into the garden. From the looks of it there was just the one figure there, so it wasn't as if there was a great threat to take care of. He held out his hand to steady her as she clambered through.

Standing up on the other side of the wall Daryl was able to take a closer look at the dark shadowy figure headed their way. It was a man around the same age and height as him with a thick mop of dark hair, and he didn't appear to be armed. He was limping badly and holding a torch up, his face was covered in dirt and blood.

"Stay right there." Daryl instructed, his voice deep and rough, he had his crossbow pointed in the other man's face.

The man instantly whipped a gun up to point back at them.

"Drop it." Daryl ordered, his adrenaline levels rising rapidly.

"Listen, I don't want any trouble." The other man said shakily, still holding his gun.

Daryl's eyes fell back to Sienna to see she too was holding her gun in one hand, shining her light straight into the eyes of the other man with the other, blinding him slightly. They had him outnumbered.

The stranger put his hand up to shield the light from his eyes. The look on his face displayed fear and panic. "Please, don't kill me." He pleaded wearily, lowering his weapon. "We need your help."

"Who's we?" Daryl questioned, his eyes cold.

"Me and my wife."

Sienna shone the light down to his leg to see it was broken badly, his trousers were torn and there was blood and bone visible.

"His leg is broken." She said to Daryl.

Daryl's hardened expression relaxed a little, somehow he didn't get the impression this man was going to be a real threat. He narrowed his eyes, pondering his next move. He wasn't about to kill him in cold blood, but he did need to protect himself and Sienna too.

"What happened to you?" Daryl asked roughy.

"I fell, looking for help. There's biters out here and I need to get help for my wife." He paused looking directly at Sienna. "You have to help my wife. She'll die, they both will."

Sienna's blue eye's widened unsure what to think. He sounded desperate and he didn't sound like he was bull-shitting them. But she also knew it could be a trick, people had grown clever at deception out here. She looked to Daryl for guidance, to see he had the exact same expression on his face too.

"Whats yer name?" Daryl asked, his tone a little less harsh.

"Carlos." The man replied.

…..

"You sure it's just the two of you?" Daryl asked again moments later, as propped up by himself and Sienna the mysterious stranger led them back to the main building.

Daryl prayed he had made the right call. He knew Rick wouldn't have hesitated to have put a bullet in the other guy back at the wall. It was ' _them or us'_ the former sheriff's deputy had repeated over and over back at Alexandria after everything they had been through. But Daryl wasn't quite ready to think like that just yet. Along with Aaron he still had some faith that didn't always have to be the case.

"I swear to you, man. I'm telling the truth. We had more people, but now it's just the two of us out here, and we need help urgently. If we don't get back to her soon, it might be too late because something is wrong I know it is."

Before they had the chance to say anything else, they came to a side entrance to the house. It was cold and drafty as they made their way inside with caution, stepping along the marble floor.

Daryl and Sienna were both glancing around them with caution, holding up their torches to shine some light into the dark building. Their senses on high alert. They were taking a big risk, but something told them both they had to do this.

"There aint nobody else here." Carlos said in response to their tense body language as he shuffled along, wincing with the pain of his badly broken leg.

He quickly took them into a small room. It had basic furniture, a mattress on the floor, some chairs and a small wash basin. It was lit only by candles and filled with the sound of a woman groaning.

Her silhouette was crouched down in the corner of the room next to a bowl of water and several towels laid down around her.

She turned around when she heard them, revealing an enormous pregnant stomach. Her bright red face was framed with jet black curls and her brow was glistening with beads of sweat, she looked terrified as she gasped, "You gotta help me."

"The baby is coming now and something is wrong, I know it is." Carlos exclaimed, rushing to his wife's side, wincing some more with the agony as he dragged his broken leg behind him. "I managed to get clean water and towels before I came out to try and find help. But I don't know what else to do. She needs a doctor."

Daryl put his hand up to his head in shock. A look of helplessness crossed his face and he turned to Sienna, to see she had already rushed to the woman's side.

"It's going to be okay." She said kindly to the terrified woman.

A loud thud suddenly rocketed through the room.

Daryl and Sienna both looked over to see Carlos had collapsed on the floor. His eyes were shut. He was out cold.

"Carlos." His wife screamed.

Sienna darted over to check his pulse.

"He dead?" Daryl asked quickly.

"No, he's just passed out. Probably from the pain. He'll be fine." Sienna replied, turning her attention back to his pregnant wife who had started screaming.

"What's your name?" She asked the hysterical woman, calmly kneeling down beside her.

Daryl just stood by and watched, hoping Sienna could think of a way to shut the woman up, because he sure as hell was out of ideas and the noise she was making was going to call every goddamn walker left in the area, straight to them.

"Maria." The woman replied in a wobbly voice, halting her screaming to look into Sienna's mesmerising big blue eyes.

"Okay, listen to me, Maria. Your husband is going to be just fine, but we can't worry about him right now. We need to focus on you." Sienna said calmly, taking her hand.

"I can't do this without him, and the baby is coming, the baby is coming right now. I can't do it." Maria exclaimed, her face full of panic again.

"Yes you can. But you need to keep calm." Sienna continued firmly. "For the baby."

Maria didn't answer, instead she screwed her face up tightly and began to cry out in agony.

Sienna looked back to Daryl to see his face was full of anxiety. "She's just having a contraction." She explained to him.

All Daryl could do was watch quietly as Sienna squeezed the woman's hand gently and said in a soothing voice. "That's it, just breath through it."

Eventually the cries ceased and the woman was quiet. Panting to re-gain her breath.

"Okay, Maria, that was 60 seconds. How frequently are your contractions coming and for how long?" Sienna asked.

"I umm…maybe every four or five minutes." She replied quietly. "For the past eight hours."

Daryl could tell by the look of slight panic crossing Sienna's face, that wasn't good. At first he took it to mean they didn't have much time before the baby was born, but by the expression in her eyes it was more than that. He placed both his hands behind his head and took a deep breath. He hoped she knew how to deliver a baby because he didn't have a damn clue.

Without leaving the woman's side Sienna reached for her backpack, pulling out some hand sanitiser, her first aid kit and a small bottle of isopropanol pure alcohol.

"I need to examine you." She said, cleaning her hands before pulling the woman's stained tee-shirt up to feel her stomach.

Daryl looked away, just as another set of loud cries started to come out of the woman's mouth. He glanced back over to where Sienna had made her lean over a chair just in time to see a gush of clear liquid spilling out onto the ground.

Seconds later the room went quiet again. Sienna said something to the woman that Daryl didn't quite hear as she rubbed her arm and stood up to walk over to Daryl. She beckoned with her head for him to follow her to the far side of the room.

"Her water's have broken." She explained in a hushed tone.

Daryl stared into her blue eyes, he had no idea how she could remain so calm. "Right." He mumbled awkwardly.

"Listen, Daryl, I think something is wrong. I'm not a doctor so I can't be certain, but I think the baby is lined up wrong it doesn't seem to be moving down as it should be and she is getting all the pain in her back. She is bleeding a bit and I don't think it's going to be a straight forward delivery. It's good her waters have gone, but I think she could need medical assistance… him too.." She added, as an after thought, glancing at Carlos too, from where he was still lying unconscious on the floor with his broken leg.

Sienna bit down on her lip. She knew in a hospital with trained doctors and up to date equipment, the baby would probably be able to be born safely and if there were any complications they could be dealt with. But out here, it was far more risky. She had to act.

"Daryl, I need to go out to radio for help. My phone hasn't been working all day. I need to go further out to try and fix it and get a signal. I can call Trent, hopefully they aren't far away. He has a doctor with him and they can drive them back to the hospital at the base."

Daryl shook his head.

"Nah, you can't do that." He said firmly. "Not on your own."

Daryl, we don't have a choice." She responded.

"I'll go."

"You won't know how to." She stated. Not even Sam and Louie were as skilled as she was in fixing electronic equipment.

"Then tell me how to." He hissed fiercely.

"There isn't time, it's too complicated. You have to stay here with her." She said even more firmly, gesturing with her head to where Maria was crying out in the full throws of another contraction.

Daryl felt his heart thumping violently out of his chest.

"You can do this, Daryl. I won't be long. Just keep her calm in between contractions. Make sure she stays upright and encourage her to breathe and push through them. But don't let her push unless she is having a contraction, thats very important." She stressed, her hand touching his trembling arm.

"Baby, we _have_ to do this." She said tenderly, her big almond shaped eyes pleading with him as emotion radiated out of them, tugging at his heart strings.

He nodded once. She was right and he wasn't about to let a baby, or it's mother die needlessly again.

Sienna gave him a small grateful smile before she returned to the woman panting on the floor. She took her hand and said in a gentle voice. "Maria, I've got to leave for a few minutes.."

"No." The woman exclaimed in horror. "You can't leave me."

"I have to go and call for help for you and the baby. We have doctors and a hospital and we need to take you there, all of you. I'll be as quick as I can, I promise. You have to trust me. For the baby." She paused, indicating with her head for Daryl to come closer. "Daryl is going to stay here with you until we return. You won't be alone."

Daryl gave her an awkward smile.

"Be safe." He whispered in Sienna's ear as she gathered up her things. He could hardly believe he was letting her go out there into the dark night on her own.

"I'll be fine," she insisted, "My instincts will take over if I need them, remember what you said?"

Daryl nodded, as a dull thud hit his stomach. He had been high on the moment and half flirting with her back when he had said that at the cabin in the woods. The truth was, he had actually been planning to give her some more lessons on how to shoot and take care of herself. But right now he had no choice but to let her chance it. He had to have faith she would be able to contact the military and get them here.

"Oh and Daryl, if I'm not back in time, you're going have to deliver this baby." She added quietly and seriously, flashing him one more look, before she was gone.

...

"It's starting again." Maria exclaimed as the wave of another contraction built up.

Daryl took his leather jacket off and crouched down beside her, covering his hands with the hand sanitiser gel he always carried around in his pocket. He was completely out of his depth, but he could do this.

She grabbed on to his hand and screamed, her face twisting with agonising yelps. "That's it …that's it, girl, push, you can do it." Daryl found himself saying awkwardly at first, before he found a low, soothing voice he hardly recognised. Before she slowed down and stopped.

In hardly any time at all she was hit with another one, causing her to make even more noise. "Here bite into this," he said, handing her the hanky from his back pocket. He couldn't risk her being too loud.

…..

"Something is wrong, the baby doesn't seem to be moving down." She said to him, her lip trembling with terror and exhaustion, after he had helped her through several more contractions.

"It's just taking it's time that's all. Wants to make a causal entrance." He half joked, gripped with a little fear himself too. "Just keep doing what you're doing, you're doing real good."

"Here comes another one." She yelled out. "Something is happening this time." She moved from the kneeling position Sienna had put her in to lying flat on her back on the towels. "Can you see the head crowning?" She breathlessly asked him, widening her knees.

Daryl felt his cheeks burn with embarrassment. He was a complete stranger to her, but she didn't seem to care and if she didn't he shouldn't either. If he could put his fingers into the eye sockets of a rotting skull to defend himself and his group, he could do this.

He shoved his hair our of his eyes, silently willing Sienna to hurry up. Taking a deep breath he stared between her legs as she screwed her eyes up and pushed.

Any awkwardness at the situation quickly left him as he suddenly saw a shock of matted black hair appearing. "I can see the head." He said excitedly, encouraging her to push further.

After a few seconds more she stopped and cried out in frustration as Daryl saw the hair slip back a little. Was that normal? He didn't have a damn clue.

"Why won't it come out?" She gasped sounding defeated.

"Come on..we need to get you up again." Daryl said, reaching out his arm to help her up. Remembering what Sienna had said about keeping her upright. "Gravity is gonna get this little fella out."

He rubbed her back and prayed to the universe or whoever else the hell was listening, to let it all be okay. He hadn't been there when Lori had actually died, but he could only imagine how unimaginably horrific it must have been. That couldn't happen again.

He could tell by her breathing, Maria was about to start pushing again, this had to be it. "Okay, girl, this time you need to give it everything you've got. Push hard. You can do this."

"I can't." She whimpered.

"Yes you can." He stressed. He didn't know this woman. She was a complete stranger to him, but somehow he was starting to feel strangely close to her and her un-born child.

She let out a low, animalistic growl into his hanky as she crushed his hand and pushed hard again.

Daryl looked down between the back of her legs to suddenly see a a tiny, blood streaked little body come shooting out on to the towels. He looked down in amazement.

"It's a boy." He announced. His eyes filling with emotion and relief….

TO BE CONTINUED…

 **A/N - Thanks so much for reading. Please leave a review with thoughts, suggestions, comments, if you can :))**


	19. NINETEEN

**A/N - Thanks so much to everyone following this story, please keep reviewing and commenting, it really helps. Here is the next chapter. I wrote it when I should have been working :) But I just can't get this story out of my head and can't wait to get the next few chapters out. This one, is more Daryl/Sienna - but soon there will be a lot more characters involved.**

* * *

The room was silent for one agonising second, before the shrill wail of new born cries filled the tense empty space.

"Welcome to the world, lil guy." Daryl muttered with relief.

His pained face relaxed, from the looks and sounds of it the baby was healthy. Using the knife he had thoroughly cleaned from his pocket, the one he ensured to carry on him at all times, Beth's knife - he carefully severed the cord attaching the baby to his mother. He wrapped the tiny, screaming, red-faced infant up in the towels and handed him straight to the woman he had met just hours before, carefully placing him into her waiting arms.

She grasped her baby tightly to her, instinctively putting him to her plump breast, he started suckling straight away. Just like nature intended.

"You got kids?" Maria asked, as she placed a tender kiss on the top of the baby's head, a jet black lock of her hair falling down her face.

"Nah." Daryl shook his head.

Overloaded with endorphins and hormones, she smiled widely at him. "You should, you and your wife would make great parents. You'd have gorgeous kids too, your wife is so beautiful."

Daryl twitched with a little embarrassment. "We're not married."

"Yet." She responded, smiling even more and looking down at her child. "You shouldn't let anything hold you back in these times. Carlos and I only married after the darkness fell."

Daryl's eyes creased and he frowned, his brow knitting together as his thoughts turned back to Sienna. It had been a while now and she wasn't back yet! Something must be wrong.

"I er.. best go and see where she's got to." He mumbled, standing up.

Maria's face quickly became more serious, fear flooded her eyes once again as she clutched her 'minutes old' child to her chest. "You can't leave us. Carlos is still not conscious and if someone comes, I won't be able to do anything. There are biters out there."

Daryl looked from the door back to the woman and her newborn baby. He put his hand up to touch his hair, a conflicting look appeared on his lined face. They were so vulnerable, he couldn't leave them. He would just have to wait here with them a little longer. But he knew if his girl wasn't back within the hour he would have to head out after her.

* * *

"You sure it's just the two of them?" Trent asked Sienna as they hurried back towards the house.

She nodded breathlessly, her hair falling out of it's ponytail around her face. "We didn't see any signs of anyone else. If they had more people, they probably would have been there with them helping to deliver the baby."

Trent nodded once, satisfied. Luckily they hadn't been far away when Sienna had managed to radio them in. She had waited for them for a while back by the abandoned car to ensure to lead them to the right place straight away. She had no idea what was happening back inside the building, but she'd just had to hope that Daryl could handle it.

They had transport now to take Maria and Carlos back to the hospital and they also had a doctor with them. If they could make it back to them in time, it should be okay.

"She was bleeding, I think she'll need a C section." Sienna said, looking over to Dr Lafoe, the french doctor that was out with the military on this occasion. He was experienced and competent but he didn't have any equipment with him, he couldn't work miracles.

"We'll have to act quickly then. I can't perform any surgical procedures out here safely. I'll need anaesthesia and sterile operating equipment." He replied seriously in his french accent.

"Okay." Sienna understood what he was saying, performing a procedure like that out here could be just as damaging to the baby as leaving it to chance. Hearing Daryl confess to her about losing one of his group in childbirth, had moved something in her. She knew it was a tragedy that could probably have been prevented had they had access to a doctor and modern medicine. She wasn't about to let that happen again, and risk another baby having to survive in this cruel world without it's mother. She quickened her pace. Leading Trent, Lafoe and the two other soldiers with them into the main building. There was only one thing on Sienna's mind. She was determined this lady and her baby weren't going to die.

Getting closer and closer to the little room tucked away to the side of the building, she noted it was quiet. Too quiet for a woman in the final stages of labour. Her heart nearly stopped beating, something must be wrong. Fearing for the worst she moved faster and faster breaking into a run, encouraging the others to do the same.

Bursting through the door, her hand instantly flew up to her mouth in shock.

Daryl was sat calmly to the side of the mattress, next to Maria, who was clutching a tiny bundle in her arms. On her other side was Carlos, the man they had nearly shot earlier that night, looking dazed, confused and happy.

….

Daryl looked up as her saw her and he was quickly on his feet. Relief rushed through his system. She was back and unharmed. His cheeks flushed and he hid behind his hair. A little taken aback at the depth of feeling he was experiencing to see her. He instinctively went to her side and gave her arm a gentle, affectionate squeeze. He had only known her a short time, but she was quickly starting to become the most important thing in the world to Daryl - _and it was scaring the hell out of him!_

"It's a boy." Maria said, breaking the silence, brushing a a raven coloured curl away from her eye as she looked up at Sienna - the stunning blonde woman, who's kindness had helped to save her and her un-born child's life.

Sienna beamed back, stepping a little closer to take a better look at the beautiful, perfect baby, who had beaten the odds to make it into their crazy world.

Within seconds, Dr Lafoe was by Maria's side too, he started to check her over, while the other soldiers looked on in amazement. It had been a long time since anyone had seen a new-born baby. It was nothing short of a miracle out here. Good things rarely happened anymore.

Daryl looked over at the foreign doctor that had appeared with Sienna, he recognised him straight away from when he had first woken back at the refuge centre. Lafoe had been the one to treat him. One of the first people he had seen when he had regained consciousness. Seeing him here again in this situation was a little surreal, but it hit home to Daryl how everything seemed to go full cycle now.

"You made it." Daryl said to Sienna quietly as they stepped back away from the others and he reached subtly for her hand to hold in his. He couldn't hide how pleased he was to see her.

"You too." She responded, still hardly able to believe what had just happened. Daryl had kept his cool and delivered the baby. "Never had you down for a mid-wife." She joked.

He screwed his face up.

"Pretty amazing though." She said seriously.

Daryl suddenly became over-come with emotion again. "Yeah, pretty fucking amazing. He's one of the most incredible things I've ever seen."

"You're such a softie at heart, Dixon." She teased again, her eyes twinkling.

"Shuddup.." He brushed her off, embarrassed. It didn't really fit his hunter and tough, bad-boy image. To be tearing up and acting like a girl over a baby being born. But then again he didn't care. It had been one of the toughest and most incredible things he had ever done. Helping that little guy come into their screwed up world safely, and miraculously both the baby and his mother had remained relatively un-harmed in the process.

"Plenty of material for your book." He then joked back at her, raising his brows.

She smiled. The emotion of the moment hitting her too as she realized - they did have one hell of a story to tell now and she had a feeling it was only just the beginning!

…..

"The baby seem's fine. But we need to get them back to the hospital to be checked over properly." Lafoe said, moving over to Trent.

* * *

"This one is yours." Daryl said as the next morning he and Sienna were making their way through the forest back to his bike. The faint traces of pink from the early morning sun lighting the sky and rousing their senses.

Sienna groaned inwardly a little as her eyes fell on the clumsy, disgusting creature staggering through the trees toward them. "Thanks." She replied slightly sarcastically. It was the fourth one they had seen that day. Daryl had taken the first three out with his arrows.

"It's good target practice." Daryl said seriously. "Here, grip the gun with your two fingers, keep your other hand down at the handle. This will help with control and accuracy." He moved behind her and placed his hands on her hips and using his legs he placed his foot in-between Sienna's feet and nudged them so they were shoulder-distance apart. "You need to move your left foot towards the target and your right arm needs to be perfectly straight, while the other should be bent and flexing a little."

Sienna tensed, feeling under pressure as the creature moved further towards them, alerted by the noise of their voices.

"Relax." Daryl instructed in her ear. "You're ready."

Sienna's heart was beating furiously. She closed her left eye so she could aim with her right one. The infected corpse had been a woman. She had clumps of mousey coloured hair hanging from her skull, her cheeks were bloody and sunken in and her lips had all but disappeared. Her rotting teeth were snapping and snarling as foamy liquid spilled down her chin. Her eyes were blood-shot and yellow. She was possessed. But she had been someone once. A thought that haunted Sienna. That infected creature had been a person once, that couldn't be saved.

Daryl sensed her hesitation. He knew to her this was all new and it didn't come easily. "She's already dead." He said patiently.

Sienna ignored him and with trembling fingers she took the shot. The loud sound and bit of kickback caused her to cry out.

Daryl looked at the target, the bullet had just managed to go into the side of it's forehead, knocking it down to the ground. "Not bad." He remarked. "Now point the gun down."

He knew she would need more practice to gain her confidence and shoot a moving target at a further distance. But he was starting to feel a little more confident she would be better able to handle herself out here, if she needed to.

Sienna smirked at him. She had been reluctant, but she had to admit it had felt good. Up until a year or so ago, she had never even seen a gun. Now she was having to learn how to use one to defend herself. She was having to shoot walking corpses and blow their brains out. It was insane.

"Come on." Daryl said, returning her smirk, giving her a friendly pat on the arm.

He turned to lead the way back to where they had left his bike the day before, ready to drive them back to the base. It had been an eventful few days and they were both exhausted.

…..

"You okay?" Daryl asked, looking at Sienna as they found themselves back at the bike. She had barely uttered a word to him in the past hour and had been unusually quiet.

"Mmm.." She mumbled.

He took a moment to look at her, his eyes narrowing trying to work out what was on her mind. He knew her well enough to know that something had been troubling her ever since they had set off that morning.

"Y'sure?"

She forced a smile. "Yeah, just tired that's all. I can't wait to have a nice hot bath and go to bed tonight." They had only managed to get a couple of hours sleep, after seeing Maria, Carlos and their baby off with the doctor and Trent's crew in the small hours the night before.

Daryl sighed, if she said she was okay he just had to take her word for it, she probably was just completely tired out, they both were. Plus, it was a little alarming the amount of walkers that were appearing in what they had thought was a relatively safe, amber zone. He just had to concentrate on getting them back safely now. He mounted the bike, signalling for her to do the same.

* * *

Later that night, safely back at the base and tucked up in Sienna's bed, Daryl pressed his naked body up against her bare back. He wrapped his arms around her, his hands fondling her breasts enjoying the feel of them underneath his rough palms. He buried his face in her head to breath in the scent of her freshly washed hair and he pushed himself even closer into her body. He barely recognised himself. He was surprized to discover that with her he almost enjoyed these intimate moments after they had 'made love' to the actual heat of the moment itself. _Almost!_

He had gone from a sullen loner and eternal bachelor, to the type of guy that lay happily next to a woman and cuddled her after he'd fucked her. That was a first. Something he had resisted until now. But being with her at these moments was so tender it made his chest feel warm and fuzzy. It wasn't sexual, just affectionate.

...

But right now, he knew something wasn't quite right. He moved his head away from her hair a bit. With his fingertips he circled her skin. She was quiet. Not exactly distant. But thoughtful. She was quieter than usual and he hoped he hadn't been too pushy with her earlier when they had climbed into bed together. Although she hadn't exactly objected at the time to his advances, he knew she had wanted to rest and something was on her mind.

He'd sensed it earlier too, before they had got back even. Her eyes had lost their subtle sparkle.

He wasn't even sure if she had cum during the sex they'd just had. That bothered him. For the first time in his life with a woman he wanted to make sure she had an orgasm every time. But he didn't want to dwell on it. He put it down to her just being overly tired. They had been through quite an ordeal. She had wanted to just sleep, he had too, but she turned him on so much his sexual urges had taken over the moment he had got into bed with her and he had wanted to feel their connection again by getting physical. He just hoped he hadn't put too much pressure on her.

He sniffed and stared at the back of her head. If he'd done something he wanted to know, because he wasn't used to this kind of thing. Romantic relationships and shit. It was new to him.

"You okay?" He mumbled, his voice gravelly. It had to be about the fifth time he had asked her that since they had set off that morning.

"Mmm.." She mumbled back again, not wanting to talk.

Daryl twisted his mouth to one side in confusion, looking at her back, allowing his hair to drape over his eyes.

"I'm going to get a glass of water." She said quietly. Standing up to pull on her underwear and walk out the room.

Daryl lay back against the bed and he felt a dread in his stomach, something had changed! If he was going to lose her now, _he knew it would fucking hurt._

Moments later she was back in the room, her hair was twisted up into a messy bun, exposing her beautiful face, but she looked almost sad now. She was holding a glass of water and a brown envelope. She sipped the water, before offering it to him without words.

"Thanks." He reached out to take it from her nervously, exposing his tattooed chest as he sat up to took a sip, before handing it back to her.

Sienna placed it down on the side and slowly got back on to the bed. Still holding the envelope she pulled out a photograph and handed it to him, biting down on her lip.

Daryl took the photo from her silently to see it was a little boy with blonde hair and blue eyes.

"My son, Lucas." She explained shakily, looking at him cautiously through her dark lashes. Her heart thumping violently. This wasn't easy for her.

Daryl was speechless for a second - from the sunny smile, big blue eyes, light hair and freckles there was no doubt the boy in the picture was her child.

"He was three years old when I lost him." She continued slowly. "He was in the car with Tom when it crashed."

Daryl looked up from the smiling little boy in the picture to Sienna to see her eyes were glistening with unshed tears. He suddenly felt himself awash with sadness too, this story was all too common now. He presumed Tom had been her late husband, she had never actually told Daryl his name before. Neither had she told him they'd had a child. Thinking about her being with her husband had caused a slight surge of jealousy to hit him, so he'd avoided the subject wherever possible. But now he didn't feel jealous, he didn't feel anything but sadness and sympathy.

At that moment he didn't know what to say, there were no words. He blinked, he didn't think there was anything he _could_ say. Instead he placed his hand on her shoulder and gently massaged it. He wanted to offer her some small comfort at least. He couldn't pretend to know what losing a child felt like, but he had witnessed Carol going through it first hand. No-one should ever have had to experience the pain she had.

Sienna looked back at him and gave him a weak smile, a single tear sliding down her cheek. She was glad he was there. More than he could ever know. She didn't want to have to re-live her nightmares, but sometimes it was necessary.

"Sorry, sweetheart." He eventually murmured.

This time Sienna's smile became more genuine. She had been a little concerned at how Daryl might have reacted. Whether he would have been annoyed that she had kept such a 'big thing' from him, or whether he would have wanted to run away from her due to her baggage being too much. But looking at him now neither of those things seemed to be the case. His eyes still held the same expression as he looked at her - deep, expressive, and full of genuine warmth, kindness and affection. She had meant it when she had said he was a 'big softie at heart'.

She took the picture back, kissed it once and placed it back in the envelope.

"I don't tell people about him." She explained, turning to stare into his eyes. "But we all have a story to tell now, right?"

"Right." He repeated. He understood better than anyone why she wouldn't want to tell people about her past.

He took her hand to wind his fingers in to hers. She had seemed so nervous about telling him. As if it would change a damn thing about the way he felt about her, he thought. Her situation was hardly unusual, it was practically the norm now. To lose your family, your spouse, your kids. He was just grateful he had found her in all that hell. Nothing could change that.

"I wasn't a great mum. I didn't spend enough time with him. I didn't cope well with the lack of sleep….I used to wish the time away, wanting him to be older and more independent. But if I'd only known I just had three years with him…" She confessed, her voice wobbling and breaking off.

Daryl squeezed her hand. "I'm sure you were a great mom." He said gently. He hated seeing her sad like this and he meant it. She probably didn't even know the meaning of being a bad parent, he did! His own parents had been wilfully neglectful in every sense of the word.

They lay together in silence for a minute, listening to the sound of each other breathing, before Daryl's curiosity got the better of him. "That why you're here? To forget." He asked. It kind of made sense to him now why a girl like her would be over here, if things in Europe really weren't as bad as they were here, why would she stay?

"No, I'll never forget." She replied, laying her blonde head on his chest so she could hear his heart beating. It made her feel safe and secure to be so close to him.

"He'll always be with me. Every single day, right in here." She said passionately placing her hand over her heart.

She paused, and turned to look up at the ceiling. "For a while I felt like I wanted to die too. I felt like I had nothing left to live for. But being here, I found a way to cope with my pain and grief and carry on."

She looked back at him, her gaze intense. "I'm realizing more and more each day that I still have a reason to be in this world."

Daryl's eyes creased at the corners, his hand on her waist. He hadn't lost a child so he couldn't exactly relate to that, but he could relate to what she was saying. He'd lost people, and it had made him feel like he didn't want to live anymore. But then things had happened to change that - finding Alexandria and the people there, finding this place and finding her, that was everything. That was something to live for.

 **A/N - Thanks for reading, please review :) This chapter was a little sad, but it is an important part of the story I had been building up to, as Daryl bonds with Sienna. Next chapter the tone will change though, Daryl will be more independent again and will be going out without her!**


	20. TWENTY

Alone in the bedroom Daryl leaned down to tie his boots up, he picked up his discarded jacket from the chair in the corner of the room where he had left it the night before, and he quietly made his way through the door, down the stairs and out the front door. He called out to Sienna, she was in the shower and probably wouldn't hear him, but he told her he was getting some air anyway.

He had planed to just step outside for an early morning smoke to clear his head, but he quickly found himself walking briskly in the direction of the beach. He looked down to see Suki was trotting along happily at his heels.

"Y'lookin for a bit of peace and quiet too girl." He mumbled in response to her loyal eyes and wagging tail. Sienna's dog had really taken a shine to Daryl and she seemed to follow him wherever he went.

His boots crunched along the sand for a bit before he stopped to bend down and throw an old stick he noticed at his feet for Suki to chase. Apart from a few gulls circling overhead it was blissfully silent. Just the two of them and the bright early morning waves.

He put his hands up to the back of his head to gaze out in front of him, it was sparkling blue as far as the eye could see. Beautiful. Breathing slowly in and out he took a moment to enjoy the view, before lighting up a cigarette.

It had been a heavy night and Daryl hadn't gotten a lot of sleep with everything on his mind, so a brisk walk on his own had been just what he had needed. Hearing about Sienna's loss had really hit home to him how no-one was immune to tragedy now. She had been through it just as much as anyone else he had come across. He had thought she was unnaturally perfect when he had first met her, now he realized she was just as screwed up as the rest of them it made him even attracted to her if that was possible. Because she was still here, she was still pushing forwards and in the brief time they had been together, she had rocked his world.

He took a long hard drag of his cigarette, blowing smoke out into the pure sea air, fresh with life instead of death.

Sienna had bared her soul to him the night before and he had felt in a weird way as though he had wanted to do the same back. He had wanted to tell her things he had never told anyone. Dark things that he kept hidden deep inside him. He had wanted to let her in.

But somehow it hadn't seemed the right time, even though he felt as though she would have wanted him to, she wouldn't have judged him and it would have just made their bond even stronger. Last night had been about her - and her story, not his. When she had told him about what had happened he had wanted to hold her so close, to try and take her pain away. The pain he had felt so badly. It had been as though her pain, had gravitated into his pain too.

...

He lowered his smoke and put his knuckle up to his mouth to bite down on it as he thought about her and their growing closeness. It was early days, he had only known her a short time, but he was starting to feel as though, maybe, she could just be the love of his fuckin life.

He knew he had some decisions to make. There were two ways his life could go now.

He whistled to Suki to come back in, and he suddenly flinched as he sensed footsteps coming up behind him. He turned around to come face to face with Monroe. The older guy was in shorts and a t-shirt and looked as though he had been out running from the beads of sweat breaking on his flushed face.

"Taking an early morning stroll?" Monroe asked brightly. "Best time. Tide's out."

Daryl jerked his head in acknowledgement and looked him over quickly, it seemed Sienna wasn't the only one that liked to run along the beach in the mornings. Monroe needed to be in good shape for his role, so it was no surprize he liked to work on his fitness levels out here.

"I heard about what happened, good work, Dixon." Monroe remarked, patting Daryl on the arm. "A baby coming into this world safely now is no small thing. It's a big deal. Been a while since we've had one of them here."

"Thanks." Daryl mumbled a little embarrassed. He didn't want to make a big deal out of what had happened. It was hardly as though he, himself, had sired the child.

"Y'know, people just don't seem so keen on the idea of reproducing anymore. Shame really, because we need to focus on the next generation. But, I guess people are just panicking and now that there is a whole load of contraception around here again - it's no surprize people don't want to be responsible for bringing new lives into this hell-hole!" Monroe commented.

Daryl felt a heat rise in his cheeks, as he become even more embarrassed. He wondered if Monroe knew he was seeing Sienna.

"Anyway, that's a conversation for another time. I'm glad I caught you because there is something else I wanted to talk to you about." Monroe said, putting his hand up to touch his chiseled jaw and greying stubble.

"We're going back out there again tomorrow. Into a red zone. There is a gated community that we have had a crew maintaining, but they have gone dark. No radio contact for over a week, so we need to head down to see what has happened to them. See if there are any survivors that we need to bring in….It's a dangerous mission and only authorised personal are allowed - I'd like you to come along."

He whipped out a small flask from his pocket took a sip and handed it to Daryl. It was whisky.

"A little early." Daryl mumbled.

Monroe waved it under his nose. "Come on, take what you can while it's on offer."

Daryl reluctantly took it and swigged, the powerful liquor burned the back of his throat as the salty air filled his nostrils. He handed it back quickly.

"So what do you say - you in?" Monroe asked, as he screwed the top back on the bottle.

"Yeah." Daryl replied looking back at him as his hair blew back away from his face. "I'm in."

* * *

Sienna stepped out of the shower to silence, she was alone in the house she shared with her work colleagues and more recently Daryl too. Her hair was dripping wet as she gripped her towel tightly around her still damp body with one hand, she used the other to rub some rose scented body-lotion into her tanned legs.

Running a comb through the ends of her long hair, she wondered where Daryl had got to, Suki too for that matter. Her dog usually was waiting for her when she got out the shower and accompanied her as she went about her day.

She quickly dressed, choosing a casual, short grey dress and long blue cardigan, with her long socks and boots, her hair hanging loosely down her back. Adding a slick of lip balm and mascara to brighten her face up, she checked her appearance quickly in the mirror and added a quick squirt of her Chloe perfume. She had a busy day ahead of her, working on her writing. She would have to catch up with Daryl later. It was business as usual now.

She scribbled him a quick note, letting him know she would be over at the bar working.

Daryl probably wanted some space now. It had been quite an intense thing to find out about her, that she had lost her child, something she had to live with every day.

She put her hand up to the touch the ring she always wore around her neck, the one Tom had given her the day their son had been born. It was the only physical reminder she had left of her beautiful baby out here, and wearing it comforted her, it reminded her that his energy was always with her.

Right now though, Sienna was planning to write about what had happened to her over the past few days. How she had seen the miracle of a brand-new healthy baby, born at what people had been calling, 'The end of the world'. Maria's story was so inspiring and fascinating. Sienna couldn't wait to interview her properly. She really represented why everyone should still have faith and hope - and never give up.

...

It was particularly quiet over at the bar as Sienna made her way in with her work bag over her shoulder. It was a bar at night but in the day it was many things and was the hub of the place, where people went to meet and discuss work matters. Later on it turned into somewhere more causal where you could socialise and unwind into the night if you were in the mood and had the time. It was also the only place where you had the faintest chance of picking up an internet connection. The days of roaming data and being able to get online pretty much everywhere you went, were well and truly dead.

Kyle was working behind the bar. He looked up and grinned shyly as he saw Sienna. "Morning. What can I get you?"

"Coffee, you want me to make it?" Sienna asked, smiling back at the young dark-haired guy. She liked Kyle, he was a genuinely good soul and despite being a little quiet and damaged when he had first been brought in, he had turned out to be a great asset here - loyal, hard -working and a good friend when he was needed to be. He was also a killer shot with a sniper rifle.

Kyle took the occasional voluntary shift here at the bar, just like she did. In exchange for knowledge about where the best drinks were stashed.

"Nah, it's fine." Kyle replied, pouring her a coffee from the jug behind the bar. "My shift is nearly finished then I'm out of here to get some rest before going out with Monroe tomorrow."

He placed the streaming mug in front of her and she took a small sip from the hot weak liquid. She knew they were lucky to have coffee, even if it wasn't the best. "Where are you going?" She asked.

"We're going out to the red-zone up the coast, the crew based there haven't radioed in for a while. Daryl didn't mention anything to you? Monroe said he was coming along too."

Sienna looked away. It was no secret that she and Daryl had something going on. So she was hardly surprised Kyle had mentioned his name. She was however a little surprised that Daryl hadn't mentioned anything to her abut being involved with this latest outing, but there had to be a good chance he had only just found out, so it wasn't a big deal.

But the thought of Daryl going out to a red-zone did hit her with a wave of anxiety. Sienna had never been to a red-zone, they were dangerous and when teams went out there, they sometimes wouldn't return for days on end and it was more than likely that not everyone would return safely.

Sienna knew that what she had with Daryl here couldn't last forever, that sooner or later reality would kick in. But she wasn't sure if she was ready for that _just_ yet.

"I'm sure he probably hasn't been briefed yet." Kyle said kindly an awkward expression appearing on his handsome young face.

"Yeah." Sienna agreed forcing a smile.

She picked up her coffee to make her way over to one of the quieter tables in the corner. Pushing any more negative thoughts out of her mind. She opened her temperamental laptop and started typing.

 _'Will it be easy? Nope. Will it be worth it? Absolutely!'_

 _..._

Later that day and several coffee's later having spent the whole day working, Sienna still had her head down typing away furiously, when she felt a male presence coming up to her and a waft of expensive cologne filled the air around her. It could only be Alex. She looked up and when she saw him she winced slightly. She wasn't in the mood to talk to him right now.

"This seat taken?" He asked.

"No. But I'm not going to be great company." She mumbled.

He gave her a warm smile and she almost felt guilty for a moment at the way his eyes went straight to her and lingered. Like he was genuinely pleased to see her.

"Tequila?" He offered as he put down two shots in front of him.

"It's a little early for me." Sienna dismissed, quirking a brow watching him down his shot.

He opened his mouth and she was sure he was about to say something clever, instead he remarked, "Heard about your latest adventures. Finding a baby, bringing it in, that's quite something to be proud of." Trying to coax a smile out of her.

Her cheeks flushed a little, and she ran her index finger around the rim of her coffee cup. "We just happened to be the ones to find them. Anyone would have done the same."

She noticed his eyes wander briefly to her perky breasts and she scowled a little. Despite what she'd just said, she couldn't imagine Alex would have been able to have kept his cool and delivered the baby.

"They're calling him a hero. Your boyfriend." He remarked, with a mocking smile. "I'm thinking people round here have got short memories though." He reached for the second shot and downed it.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She reluctantly responded coolly. It was no secret, Alex wasn't Daryl's biggest fan.

He shrugged with an arrogant smirk. "One minute he's just another feral survivor, then as soon as a cute little baby is involved, people seem to think he's some sort of saviour."

Sienna rolled her eyes and gave him a glare. "Was there something in particular you wanted, Alex? Because I'm kind of busy."

His face became serious and his eyes fixed on her. "I'm just worried about you, blondie, that's all. Do you really know what you're doing? Getting involved with a guy like that?"

She sighed. Maybe she did need that tequila after all. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

"I can see you're after a bit of fun and he has that whole rough and sullen, hunter/gatherer thing going on that chicks seem to dig….But he's dangerous. Can't you see that?" Alex frowned. "He killed Jenkins."

"He did not." She pouted. "You weren't even there, but if you were you would have seen that Jenkins was already dead, Daryl was just preventing him from turning."

"A little irrational though, don't you think?" Alex was quick to come back with.

"What is your problem?" She snapped.

"Just looking out for you." He said, holding his hands up.

"Well, thanks, but I can look out for myself." She replied brusquely. Lowering her head to look back at her laptop.

"He's from a larger group, isn't he?" Alex asked, not giving up.

She didn't reply.

"It's okay I won't say anything. But it's obvious there are more of them out there. So, answer this - What's going to happen when he reunites with them? Because he will sooner or later and I can guarantee they'll all be killers. Will you really want him crawling into your bed then? When you find out who he really is."

"I know who he really is." She huffed. Her blue eyes glowering at him.

"Fine." He said, and his mouth became sulky as he stood up. "Don't come crying to me when you see that I'm right."

"I wouldn't dream of it." She muttered under her breath looking down, relieved he had gone. She sensed someone sit down in-front of her again and she scowled and looked up to see Sam.

"Good to see you too." Sam joked.

Sienna brushed her hair away from her face and smiled at her friend. "Sorry, I thought you were Alex. He's being a total ass-hole as usual. No, _worse_ than usual in fact." She sighed. "He really has it in for Daryl."

Sam's face turned serious. "Ignore him. Everyone knows he's had a thing for you for ages. He's just jealous. He'll get over his wounded ego soon enough."

"Maybe." Sienna mumbled. She glanced at the time on her screen and she silently willed Daryl to appear. He had been gone for ages now.

* * *

 _'Come on, man - wake up!'_ Daryl silently willed as he sat quietly at Aaron's bedside watching him. Daryl had never seen someone that had been in a coma for so long before. Apart from all the machines around him, his friend just looked like he was peacefully asleep. His eyelids flickered every now and then and his fingers twitched. But he was still and silent.

Daryl had stopped by at the hospital to check on Aaron earlier, but he had been sidetracked as he had bumped into Carlos, the father of the baby he had helped be born. He had been hobbling on crutches with his leg in plaster as he had shaken Daryl's hand over and over and persuaded him to come and see his wife and their new-born son. Daryl had held the tiny baby for the second time and the rush of amazement he had felt when he had first laid eyes on the little infant had returned. Carlos had told Daryl how he owed him, and if he or his 'lovely girl' ever needed anything he would always be more than willing to honour that.

Daryl had felt strange hearing that. He was now the one, that the shell-shocked new people that were brought into this place looked at as a hero for saving them. When not so long ago it had been him and Aaron in that position, grateful for being brought in from the outside to find some kind of civilisation again.

…..

Looking at Aaron now as he sat by his side, Daryl cleared his throat and spoke up in a gravelly whisper. "Never gonna believe this, man…...But, I saw a baby being born out there… and you're never going to guess what they called him…"

He wasn't quite sure why, but he felt at ease talking to Aaron, even if he couldn't hear him, or maybe _because_ Aaron couldn't hear him.

They had spoken to each other about a lot of things when they had been out together on recruiting trips. Aaron had told him about his time with the NGO in Africa and also about his experiences of people's prejudices towards him growing up. Daryl had shared the experiences of his group here and there. He'd never divulged anything too personal about himself. But he'd always felt as though if he was going to open up to anyone, it would be Aaron. He was non-judgemental, un-complicated and wise, in a way non of his other friends were.

Daryl's body language stiffened as he heard footsteps marching down the corridor. The door to Aaron's room swung open and Amelia strutted in, dressed in the same dark blue scrubs she always seem to wear when he saw her. She ignored Daryl as she picked up the chart at the bottom of Aaron's bed and scribbled in it.

Her eyes slid in his direction and she smirked to herself as she continued to write.

"What?" He said with a moody scowl.

"Nothing." She replied, replacing the chart and tucking the pen back in her breast pocket.

He looked away, feeling uncomfortable. Before he narrowed his eyes and shot her another questioning look.

"It's just, I know Monroe wants you working with him, but if you're at all interested in a medical career, I hear they're looking for someone in Gyno. You're a legend round here now." She teased, with another smirk.

He scowled again and shook his head.

"On seconds thoughts. You'd be terrible. Stick to hunting. Your bed-side manner sucks." She joked.

"You can talk," he retorted.

"What can I say, I'm a surgical genius, I don't have time for small talk." She replied with a brief confident smile.

"What you doing here anyway?" She asked more seriously. "Thought you'd be over at the bar with the others by now. You avoiding them?" She asked bluntly. It was coming up to early evening and Sam had told her that everyone was meeting there, including Sienna and Daryl. So she was genuinely surprized to find him here.

"Nah, you?" He replied.

"I'm working. What's your excuse?" She responded with a shrug. She spent most of her waking hours in the hospital working flat out. It was exhausting but she truly loved the buzz of it. It was nice to stop for a second though and quiz the quiet and mysterious, redneck survivor that her blonde journalist friend seemed so taken with.

An awkward silence fell. Amelia had sort of hit a raw nerve with Daryl. It was complicated. Daryl knew Sienna would want him to go and have a drink with her. But part of him knew it would be hard, knowing it was likely to be his last night with her for a while. It was going to be difficult after everything that had happened to leave without her, he didn't do goodbyes that well. So he wasn't avoiding her, just working up the courage to see her and tell her he had agreed to go out with Monroe. That was if she hadn't already heard.

"So you and Sienna are together?" Amelia pried.

Daryl shrugged dismissively, he wasn't comfortable talking about this kind of thing.

"Come on, we've all heard you going at it night after night, you're hardly discreet!" Amelia exclaimed, rolling her eyes, causing instant embarrassment to spread in Daryl. "And she seems happy, so I'm guessing you make her happy." Amelia continued teasing.

Daryl nervously tossed the hair he had been hiding behind away from his eyes so he could look at her as her words caused a tingling to hit his stomach. No-one had ever said he had made a girl happy before!

"You know we're not so different." Amelia said, more seriously now, trying to get him to talk to her. She perched on the side of the bed and crossed her arms.

Daryl still didn't respond verbally, but he was listening, she had his attention.

"I know what it feels like to come from a dark place. To put on an act, because you don't feel capable of letting people into that darkness. To keep your guard up. But…let me tell you something, I've known that crazy, British girl since the start of all this and I can tell you that for some unknown reason she _really_ likes you. She could have any man she wants, but she _wants_ you. So, if that's not something you can deal with, then maybe it's best to quit while you're ahead." Amelia said, widening her eyes. "She's european and a little more emotional than we are." She added, more lightheartedly.

Daryl narrowed his eyes and blinked several times. He could hear what Ameila was saying, but if she thought for one minute he would deliberately hurt Sienna she couldn't be more wrong. He wasn't just some asshole looking for a quick thrill. Sienna was the first woman that had made him feel the way he was feeling right now and he was crazy about her. She was sweet, smart, insanely beautiful and a little complicated and he loved how she made him come to life when he was with her. It was like she was alighting a fire inside him.

"You like her a lot, don't you?" Amelia asked, studying what was written all over Daryl's creased face.

"She's the one good thing to happen to me." He found himself admitting in a low, rough voice. Admitting it to himself more than anything.

Amelia's lips turned up into a genuine smile. "Then what you waiting for, go over there and make her happy."

Daryl found himself breaking into a smile too, as he asked himself the same question that had been on his lips for weeks. How the hell had he ended up here?

"What about your British boyfriend ?" He asked, smirking now.

"Pfft…He's not my boyfriend." She dismissed.

Daryl stood up, glancing back down at the motionless Aaron, realizing they'd had this whole conversation in his presence.

"Oh and Dixon….This conversation stays between us." Amelia said firmly.

Daryl nodded once. That was fine with him. He was starting to realize he liked Amelia. Sienna's doctor friend had a sharp tongue on her, but in a strange way he could relate to her, and she was clearly a loyal friend to Sienna even if she pretended not to be.

* * *

There was a hum of conversation as Daryl made his way into the crowded room. He spotted Sienna immediately. She was stood with her back to him, chatting to Sam, Louie and Kyle. She turned around as he got closer as if she instinctively knew he was approaching and she broke into a wide grin that lit up her whole face. She looked so breathtakingly beautiful, Daryl knew he would remember this moment forever.

She wasn't mad he had avoided her all day, she was just pleased he was here.

As he got closer to her Sienna put her hand on his waist, she wanted to kiss him but she knew he wouldn't appreciate it here. Instead she leaned into him, breathing in his masculine scent and she whispered, "I'm glad you're here."

 **A/N - Thank so much for the ongoing support for this story. Please leave a review if you can :)**


	21. TWENTY ONE

**A/N - Thanks again for the on-going support for my story. This is another Daryl/Sienna chapter (originally just meant to be a scene in the next chapter but it became longer!) that I really wanted to sneak in, as I have suffered a little with writers block on the next chapter following this, but I am so excited for the rest of my story that I need to push through that. I know a lot of you are desperate for them to get back to Alexandria and I am too! It is coming really soon, but I wanted to develop Daryl's character and build his relationship with Sienna first.**

* * *

Daryl held his torchlight up to show the way as he walked along the beach beside Sienna. They were heading to a small pile of wood he had made earlier. In the dark they could just make out shadows. On their left where the land was, they could hear the faint cries of life from back at the base. On their right the waves broke gently on the shore sending up sprays of phosphorescent surf.

The sounds and sights of nature were still wonderful. The occasional bangs and voices coming from the base in the distance the only blemish to the otherwise perfect natural surroundings.

They found the wood and crouched down. Sienna put a match to it and slowly but steadily the fire grew. Soon they were basking in the orange glow of the bonfire. It wasn't the first time they had done this at night. The warm glow of the bonfire was a far cry from the coldness of the world Daryl had been used to.

Sienna had suggested it on this occasion. After Daryl had left Aaron at the hospital and arrived at the bar, she had grabbed a bottle of tequila and said they should go down to the beach to get wasted and talk rubbish as it would be their last chance for a while. Daryl was heading out with Monroe the next day.

...

Once the fire was going, Sienna unscrewed the lid to the bottle to take a swig.

"Where d'ya get all your booze from?" Daryl asked, raising an inquisitive eyebrow as he watched her.

"I have my contacts." She replied mysteriously with a grin as she handed it over to him and he took a swig before passing it back. "Alcohol is getting harder to come by these days. Everybody wants some, thats why they set up the bar."

"I suppose to drown away the fact that the world is fucked." Daryl commented as he watched her put the bottle to her lips again. "And I notice you're pretty good at putting away that tequila."

She laughed at his comment and shrugged. "What can I say. I used to like party a lot when I was younger, I got in a lot of practice."

"Bet you were in some kind of college sorority." He said with a mocking smile.

She rolled her eyes and gave him a deadpan stare. "Nope. Actually, I would describe myself as having been more quiet and interesting. I never really fitted in. Just pretended to when I had to. Until I found people that understood me for who I was, that is."

"What about you, I bet you loved booze and girls when you were younger?" Sienna asked, shifting the focus on to him. She imagined he would have broken a few hearts when he had been younger with his brooding good looks and sullen, bad-boy attitude.

He threw a stray twig on the fire. He'd never been to college or anything similar, he'd never had the chance and he'd always been more of a loner. "I'm a dick when I drink." He mumbled.

She laughed as she swigged some more and the burning liquid went down her throat. "Why do I find that hard to believe?" She asked sarcastically.

He smirked back at her as she handed him the bottle. It was moments like this that Daryl was starting to live for now. Just the two of them. Away from everything.

"My mother always told me I drank too much." Sienna said. "She said I wouldn't find the answers to my problem at the bottom of a bottle."

"Your mother was right." Daryl responded seriously.

"My old man was a mean drunk. He used to smack my mom around, then after she died he started beating the shit out of me."

"I'm sorry about your mother." Sienna said.

She watched him kick some sand with his foot, and sadness clouded her features as she thought about Daryl as a young boy being abused like that with no-one there to take care of him. Every child needed their mother and no child should ever have to suffer like that. No wonder he was so guarded and defensive at times.

"She was just as bad. She passed out drunk and burned the house down and killed herself." Daryl dismissed. He was never normally this open about his child-hood, but something about Sienna and this place was making him want to be now.

"My brother took care of me for a while, before he left. Then I had to just learn to look out for myself. Didn't do me no harm in the long run though, never having to rely on no-one, learning how to take care of myself!"

Neither of them spoke for a moment, as they concentrated on the sound of the crashing waves.

Sienna reached inside her bag to pull out some loose tobacco and rolling papers. She didn't smoke anymore, but she knew Daryl liked to sometimes to relax and she would happily join him if she was in the mood.

Daryl watched her silently as she sprinkled the tobacco into the rolling paper and spread it out evenly, using her fingers to form a pile into the shape of a cigarette.

"How many people have you killed?" Sienna eventually asked tentatively, changing the subject as her wide blue eyes looked up from what she was doing and over at him.

Daryl looked away into the night. His body tensed and his expression was deadly serious. He hadn't been fully prepared for that question.

"I don't mean, infected people. I mean _real_ people…." She said as she put one end of the rolling paper between her thumb and middle finger, holding the paper in the crease with her index finger of the same hand she used the other hand to adjust the paper into a creased, open chute.

He touched his jaw. "A few." His eyes became dark slits as he hid behind his hair. He wasn't proud of some of the things he'd had to do to keep himself and his group alive. "I aint a killer, just did what I had to do."

She carefully rolled the cigarette between her fingers, before putting it to her mouth to seal it with her lips. "Kyle says he has counted every single person he has had to kill to stay alive, both infected and living. He says it's the only way he can keep hold of who he used to be."

Daryl swallowed hard. He liked Kyle a lot. Despite his young age, Daryl respected Kyle because he was one of the only people here that had that look in his eyes, the look that said he had been out there, and he had survived this far, just like Daryl had.

Sienna's blonde hair fell over her face as she leaned down to place her rolled up cigarette in to her mouth and light it. She sat back up as the end sparked and she inhaled and blew smoke out into the night air. "Your group, are they killers?" She asked, wide-eyed and curious still.

Daryl met her eye for a brief moment before his gaze shifted away into the night again. None of the people he had been surviving with, the people he considered his family, had started off as killers. They had become that way, because they hadn't had a choice.

"They aint bad people. No-one started out wanting to hurt anyone. But the way it is out there…..It's either _you or them_." He explained, he wasn't going to bull-shit her, if she couldn't handle who he and his people were it was best he found out now.

She passed him the cigarette and he silently took it.

"It was just something you had to do. I get it." She responded slowly. She reached for the bottle of tequila and put it to her mouth to take another long swig.

"Nah…You don't.." He grunted, taking a deep drag of the rolled up cigarette, exhaling forcefully. He paused and looked at the crackling fire in front of them. She might think she knew because she had interviewed survivors, and seen the devastation wrecked upon the world with her own eyes. But she could never really get it unless she had actually lived through it.

Sienna lowered the bottle and clutched it with both her hands. They'd joked about her writing a book about him. But one day she actually did want to interview him properly, so she _really_ could tell his story, all of it, everything he had been through since the start of the outbreak. Alex had been right when he'd said that Daryl and his group had most probably had to do unspeakable things. But that didn't make them bad. It made them strong. She had looked deep into Daryl's eyes at the most intimate moments and she had seen the vulnerability in them and the pain, but she had also seen the light just waiting to escape, he had a lot of love waiting to give. He wasn't a bad person. He had just been pushed to his limits.

"People have to change." He mumbled and he looked straight at her. His expressive eyes studied her face to gauge her reaction.

"I don't think we ever really change. We just evolve into better versions of ourselves. Stronger and more resilient …..You know, you were made for this world now."

"I weren't made for nothing!" He said roughly. He wasn't a hero, he'd screwed up many times, people had died because of him. She needed to know that.

"How can you say that?"

He shrugged, his brow was furrowed with pain.

"You can't let your past define who you are, Daryl." She reached out and took the cigarette back from him. "Sometimes you just have to let shit go."

His face twisted and his creased eyes studied her, she fascinated him. She seemed to understand him at the most basic level.

"Aint always that simple." He frowned.

Sienna felt her eyes flicker with emotion. She had no idea what he had been through, but she had seen his scars and she wanted to help him, to try and take some of his pain away. "You can't suppress your pain forever, it will just destroy you in the end. You need to find a way to deal with it."

"Yeah, well, somethings you just can't deal with. You have no fucking idea." He snapped. "The things that happened that to me." His voice cracked slightly. "No-one ever gave a shit. I was on my own."

There was a brief awkward silence. Sienna gave him back the cigarette and she felt a strong wave of pain and sympathy. She wanted to tell him that wasn't true. That she was sure someone would have cared about him. But she didn't want to patronise him because she had no idea what his life had been like. So instead she just reached for his hand.

"You were just a kid, Daryl. It wasn't your fault." She said softly.

"Yeah." He quietly agreed in the dark. Enjoying the comforting sensation of her touch.

"Look at how far you've come. The man you've become. You have a fire in you. Thats the best revenge on the people that have hurt us. The biggest 'fuck you' to them." Sienna said passionately.

Daryl tightened his grip on her hand. She was right, but he had never looked at it like that before. He had feared his whole life he would end up like his father. But Daryl could honestly say now after everything he had been though in the past two years, finding Rick's group and becoming part of something, being willing to sacrifice himself for them - that there wasn't a trace of the man that had raised him left anywhere in him.

Sienna released the grip of his hand and took a final drag of the cigarette before throwing it into the fire. She laid down flat on her back with her knees drawn up and her hands over her eyes as her long hair spread out around her. Her head was spinning slightly with the rush of the alcohol as her chest rose and fell with her heavy breaths.

"Are you looking up my skirt, Dixon?" She asked playfully, lightening the mood again.

Daryl smirked back at her, his eyes lighting up. "What if I am?" He asked in low voice.

He shifted closer to find her hand again and he pulled her up and on to his lap. She responded by wrapping her arms around his neck and he moved his lips into hers to kiss her. The edges of his long hair tickled her face as his tongue darted into her open mouth and his hands slid through her hair. He groaned in to her mouth, grinding himself up against her. She smelled of alcohol and tobacco, mixed with her usual sweet scent and it was turning him on at an alarming rate.

Eventually they broke apart and Sienna put her thumb up to touch his tired, stubbled face affectionately. Her brilliant blue eyes were locked with his as she whispered into his ear. "I love you."

A shiver ran across Daryl's whole body at hearing her say those words. No-one had ever said that to him before and at that moment he felt loved and wanted and needed all at the same time. He kept his eyes on hers, his fingers trembling slightly. He wanted to say it back, because he knew he loved her too. But it was as though a lump had formed in his throat preventing him from speaking. Before he had the chance to do anything further, her lips were on his again and he kissed her back hard. He put everything he had in to this kiss, trying to tell her with actions and without words, how much he loved her too.

 **A/N - Thanks for reading! Hope that wasn't too fluffy! The next chapter will be up in the next couple of days! Just editing it it at the moment.**


	22. TWENTY TWO

**A/N - Here is the next chapter as promised :) Hope you enjoy & Who else is excited for the Daryl episode tonight?! :) Should be a good one!**

* * *

Daryl slowly opened his eyes to wake up warm and relaxed in Sienna's bed, a place he knew he was getting far too comfortable in for his own good. His body was pressed up against hers and his arm was loosely draped around her, his face was buried deep in the soft white fabric of the pillow that smelled deliciously of Sienna's perfume.

This was a first for Daryl. He had never shared his personal space with a woman like this before. Apart from occasionally sharing a tent with his brother, Daryl had always slept alone and more often than not, not even in a bed. He had taken the hard floor at the prison, on the road and even at times in Alexandria. He had also made sure wherever possible and practical, to try and sleep away from his group in the time he had been with them, he liked to keep his distance. He had just preferred it that way. He'd eventually given in and had his own room at the house he had shared with Rick and Carol back in Alexandria but he had never felt completely at ease there.

Here it was different. He was slowly starting to let Sienna in. They hadn't defined what they were to each other, it had just become unspoken that they were together in every sense. That they meant something special to each other. Being together was so easy and effortless. Daryl was surprizing himself he had never thought he could be with a woman in this way.

He pushed his contented body into Sienna's a little more, savouring the moment for a second more, before he groaned inwardly to himself and prized her out of his muscular tattooed arms. She let a little moan in protest, but her eyes remained shut. He stared at her for a second through the long hair falling into his eyes, as she lay there peacefully.

His gaze eventually turned to look out of the window. He brushed the hair out of his eyes with his fingers so he could get a better view of the outside world. The sun was just starting to come up, which meant he needed to meet Monroe and the others. He pulled back the bed sheets and sat up.

After he'd dressed, he gave Sienna a final glance. Her messy blonde hair was splayed out all over the pillow and her naked back was exposed where the sheets had slipped down sightly. Her eyelashes were fluttering, she looked so beautiful and peaceful, Daryl didn't have the heart to wake her. He just watched her sleeping instead for a second more. A thing he had found himself doing on several occasions before when he hadn't been able to sleep himself.

After a few more seconds he quickly leaned over to brush her hair away from her cheek so he could plant a small stubbly kiss on her face. With her eyes still closed she muttered something he couldn't understand. A sinking feeling hit his insides.

Daryl had no idea why the thought of leaving without her, only for a few days, was proving to be so hard. He had never relied on anyone for anything before and he'd gone away on countless runs and hunting trips for days on his own back with his other group. But he'd found something with Sienna, something completely out of the blue and it was unknown and scary, but kind of wonderful at the same time. The rush of warmth and the uncontrollable pull to her, the feeling he didn't want to be without her even for a day. He barely recognised himself. The person he had been his whole life would have frowned hard upon how he was behaving now, how soft, open and vulnerable he was making himself.

He hoped he wasn't setting himself up for a fall because he didn't fall easily, but right now he had fallen hard!

Sienna had told Daryl that she 'loved' him the night before on the beach. It was a new and alien sensation to Daryl, but from the feelings he had been experiencing since meeting her, he knew he was falling in love with her too. He wished he could have told her that but instead fear had taken him over. He wanted to tell her now, but she was asleep and he had to go.

* * *

Daryl walked briskly over to join the rest of the team outside the large army vehicle parked at the high security entrance gates.

"Come on people, we've got to move." Monroe yelled as he strolled along doing some final checks. He would be leading them and Daryl would follow his orders.

" _Daryl!"_ Daryl stopped in his tracks, hearing Sienna's voice.

He was just about to step towards the rest of the group and make his presence known when he turned around to see her rushing towards him. Her blonde hair was tied up on her head and for someone that had not long been up she looked fresh faced and beautiful.

"I didn't wanna wake ya." He mumbled quietly.

"I know." She responded. "I just wanted to say goodbye."

He nodded. He wasn't used to this kind of thing. Goodbyes and shit. Romance had never been his style.

She leaned into him and put her hand up to his neck to plant her lips on his skin and whisper softly. "Be safe and come back. _Don't leave me all alone in this world."_

"I'll be back. This aint my time to go." He reassured her in a deep husky whisper as he felt a rush of emotion at her powerful words and the thought of ever leaving her for good.

"Romeo, you're breaking my heart over here." Monroe quipped loudly.

Daryl gave Sienna a final look, before he quickly broke apart from her a little embarrassed, he wasn't comfortable with public displays of affection. He had normally been the one in Monroe's position when he'd been leading runs, getting irritated by the overly romantic scenes between couples. He'd never cared to understand it, when in his eyes there had been far more important things at stake.

He wondered over to stand next to Kyle, who gave him a sympathetic smile.

…

"Here you'll need this." Monroe said, tossing Daryl a bullet proof vest. Daryl unzipped his leather jacket to put it on and he climbed into the truck behind Kyle and Monroe. It was the three of them, plus a group of soldiers.

….

The roads were dead as they made their way across them. The countryside outside the window was becoming more and more baron the further north they got. They avoided the cities, they were by all accounts still 'no go' areas. The scale of devastation and infected people in the large urban areas was sill dangerously high and not fully under control. Instead on this occasion they were headed for a gated community that had been another base for survivors located in a red-zone on the edge of a forest, just like Alexandria had been. The international military had been running it and the soldiers based there had been in regular contact with Monroe, Luther and the other guys in charge back at the large base on the coast, that Daryl had been staying at and Aaron was currently being treated at in the hospital there.

...

It was nearly night, when their truck came crashing to a sudden violent halt in the middle of the road, where another similar sized vehicle to the one they were travelling in, seemed to have crashed on the side of the road into a tree.

"It looks like one of our own. Could be part of the group we're looking for." Monroe said as they stepped out of their truck to investigate further.

Monroe, Daryl and Kyle went first, silently and cautiously they climbed on to the crashed vehicle, ready for any potential threats that could be lurking. Once inside it was clear that they were on their own, the place had been abandoned. Whoever had been travelling on board had clearly vanished. There were no visible signs of any life. No bodies, no walkers, there was nothing, except an indication of some kind of struggle. All around them there was broken glass, bullet shells and blood splatter.

"Looks as though they fled pretty quickly." Monroe commented, holding his gun up and looking around. There were still cans of food, guns and supplies. It didn't make sense.

"They could be heading back here." Daryl suggested, his eyes narrowed and confused too.

"Nah. This place has been abandoned. It looks like it's been here for a while. Maybe weeks." Monroe said. He wiped his brow with the back of his hand, lowered his gun and took out a bottle of water to drink. He didn't like losing men, especially when he didn't know how, or what had happened to them.

"Look." Kyle exclaimed, holding up a full bottle of Jack Daniels and a tattered porno magazine from the corner of the vehicle.

Daryl smirked. "Want us to leave you alone for a minute."

Kyle laughed and tossed him the bottle.

Monroe exhaled into his hands, suddenly deep in thought. "Somethings not right. This could have just been a straight forward ambush from rebels. Or, it could have come from the inside. You see it sometimes; when man is pushed to the edge of humanity they can start to lose it, they lose any sense of what is right and wrong. The lines get blurred."

"You saying one of the guys killed the rest of the men?" Kyle asked confused.

"It's a possibility." He looked across to catch Daryl's eye who gave him a knowing look in return.

Daryl knew what he was talking about. He had experienced that with the governor and to a lesser extent Shane. He didn't think they had started off as bad people, the world had just turned them that way and they had used that as an excuse to justify some of their inhumane actions.

"We should get back on the road." Monroe said seriously.

* * *

They had been travelling for over two days when they finally arrived at their destination. The gates to the secret walled community, tucked away in the middle of one of the most affluent parts of the country before the outbreak. Now it was right at the centre of a red-zone and one of the most dangerous places to be.

"There should be a guard here, something is wrong." Monroe pointed out, his eyes narrowing with suspicion. "They stopped making contact over a week ago. I was hoping the communication channels were just down. But this doesn't look good!"

The gates were un-locked too, there was no need for them to be forced to gain entry. Daryl knew that any chance of finding anyone alive looked slim as all around them they were hit with the overpowering stench of smoke, gunpowder and death as they made their way in following Monroe's lead.

"Something bigs gone down." Daryl muttered as he looked up the main street, the majority of the huge houses that were visible had all been burned down to their foundations. But the scale of them was still phenomenal, it made Alexandria pale into insignificance.

"The wealth here was something else, all the properties here were exclusive in their own way, they had what was known as the three P's: privacy, protection and prestige." Monroe explained as they wandered in on high alert. "The military was meant to protect this place, it was sold as a safe haven to the elite."

Daryl's eyes darkened as he instantly took in the sight of bodies everywhere, both soldiers and civilians. All lying in a bloody, slaughtered mass. "Didn't do a great job." He mumbled, his cross-bow in his hands, his knife in his pocket and his gun strapped in to his belt.

"What the hell happened here?" Kyle asked, his eyes wide with shock.

"Hard to say." Monroe answered, his face filing with disgust as he kicked a burned rotten corpse out of his way with his boot. "Could have been over-run by the infected."

A single walker stumbled towards them. By the looks of it, it was the remains of what once would have been a soldier. Daryl raised his cross-bow to take an aim, but before he got the chance Kyle beat him to it, holding up his rifle to fire straight between it's eyes. It was an impressive shot and the corpse was on the ground in seconds.

"Nah, there would be hundreds of them all over the place by now. There was a fight. Someone tried to take this place over." Daryl stated in response to Monroe's earlier comment, and a shiver ran through him. It looked all too familiar to him. Bodies having being shot in the head to prevent them from turning, the remains of hand grenades, bullets and ashes spread everywhere, no-one was a winner in these situations.

"Doesn't look like they succeeded." Kyle responded, glancing around clutching on to his sniper rifle.

"Behind these Gates was meant to be: Life, Security and the Pursuit of Happiness." Monroe announced loudly, shaking his head with the irony. "Their money couldn't save them in the end though. No-one can buy their way out of this mess. Only God will judge you." He grimaced, raising an eyebrow as they got deeper in and the scale of the massacre increased.

What exactly had happened remained a mystery to them.

"We'll check up here, you two go further down that way, "Monroe instructed to Daryl and Kyle, as he turned with some of his other men to go in the opposite direction.

...

Daryl and Kyle turned a corner and silently wandered down the tree-lined street. There was a big house at the end, sheltered under some particularly spectacular looking big trees. Un-like all the others this house didn't appear to have been so badly effected by the fire.

"Lets check it out." Daryl said quietly, gesturing with his head to the impressive looking building. If they were going to find any signs of life here, this looked to be their best bet.

Daryl led the way, he went in first to check it out while Kyle stayed outside. Daryl waited a few seconds for any walkers to show themselves before he indicated silently with his hand for Kyle to follow him through once he was satisfied there was no immediate danger. They crept in slowly through the spacious hallway, noting blood stains and smashed glass on the expensive looking marble floor as they got deeper in.

"Shit!" Kyle exclaimed from where he was stood a little way back from Daryl. The silence broken by the sound of bodies stumbling towards him.

Daryl turned around to see the younger guy was surrounded. They had come out of no-where and there were probably around five of them. Possibly a family as they looked to be made up of different ages.

Kyle acted fast, smashing the end of his rifle into the nearest's scull. The loud cracking sound, stalling and confusing the others for a second as it fell backwards, skidding it's clumsy body against the wall. Kyle then reached for the next one, but there were too many for him to take out at once. They were all snarling and grabbing at him, desperate to savage him.

Daryl grabbed the blade from his pocket. His body filled with adrenaline as he lunged into the back of the nearest walker to him, a woman in her 50's. He quickly pulled it out to go for the next one, a younger woman - until between him and Kyle all five were taken care of.

"Thanks." Kyle said gratefully and breathlessly.

Daryl just nodded once in response. He tossed his hair back and out of his eyes as relief spread through his chest. It was a harsh reminder of how things really were in the red-zones still, after he had been so caught up in the safer zones for the past few weeks.

"I'll check up here." Daryl said, gesturing to the stairs with his head.

He moved forwards silently again, his hand wrapped firmly around his knife, fully prepared to act quickly if there were any more walkers lurking up there.

Once on the second floor he found the house was cleaner upstairs than it was downstairs and it was unsettling, given the state of all the other buildings.

After checking every room, Daryl turned at the end of the long landing to make his way back downstairs. When he felt a sudden hefty blow from behind, causing his head to smack against the wall in front of him and a steady trickle of blood poured down his temple. Instantly winded and taken by surprize, Daryl managed to turn around to see a guy in a battered military uniform, pointing a gun at his forehead. He wasn't one of Daryl's group and from the looks of his beard and blood-shot eyes he was in a pretty bad state. "Drop your weapons." He demanded.

Daryl dropped his knife and held his hands up.

"Who sent you?" The other man asked roughy. He moved forwards to press his gun into Daryl's forehead.

"Look we don't want trouble." Daryl said. "We can work this out."

"Nothing to work out, asshole." He responded coldly.

"You gonna shoot me, then best make it quick." Daryl growled. "Then you best run for your life."

The other man hesitated.

Daryl felt a fresh surge of adrenaline hit him as he shoved the other guy backwards on to the floor. As he had suspected the gun was empty. Within seconds the other man was on his feet again and he lunged at Daryl violently. The two scuffled on the floor for a moment, before Daryl had him pinned down with all his strength and he brought his fist down to smash into the soldier's face to temporarily stun him. But the other man was strong too and he used all his force to lift Daryl off him, gaining the upper hand as he straddled him and wrapped his hands around Daryl's throat. Daryl felt himself go weak with the lack of oxygen and he willed himself to stay conscious and pull the other man off him somehow.

Suddenly a gunshot ran out and the other man collapsed down on to Daryl's chest. Heaving him off his body, Daryl looked up to see Kyle stood over him, clutching his rifle, having put a bullet in the other guys head.

"Thanks." Daryl mumbled, stunned still.

…..

After checking the rest of the house and finding nothing, Daryl was sat with Kyle outside on the pavement as they caught their breath. Daryl was holding a cloth to his bleeding forehead. "You okay?" He asked the younger guy, as he noticed Kyle had a vacant look on his face, his eyes were staring straight out in front of him.

"Yeah." Kyle replied. He put his hand up to run through his hair. Near death experiences were nothing out of the ordinary now, but there had been something about this one that had got to Kyle. Maybe it was because the world was meant to be getting safer now and the number of the dead de-creasing, but somehow they still just kept coming. Or maybe it was something else. Something from his past he just couldn't let go of.

"I had to kill my Dad." Kyle suddenly confessed to Daryl.

Daryl shifted his gaze to look sideways at him and give him his full attention, but he didn't say anything. He could tell it had taken a lot for the younger guy to tell him that. He presumed he probably didn't go around announcing that to many people. But they all had their demons. Daryl knew that better than anyone.

"No matter how many times I tell myself that I had to, the fact remains that _I_ killed him." Kyle continued, glancing sideways at Daryl's lined face.

"He was already dead." Daryl responded, and he squinted back at him. "I had to put a bullet in my brother. It was the hardest thing I've ever done. But I couldn't see him go like that." He winced at the memory. The moment he had realized his brother, the only person that had ever cared about him his whole life, had gone. He'd carried on somehow and he'd found a new family. But he knew he had to stop and feel the pain every now and then, if only to honour his ass-hole brother's memory.

They were silent for a moment, both men contemplating their individual losses. What they had lost and what they had found.

…

"You look like shit." Monroe said with a smirk as Daryl approached him later.

Daryl ignored his comment. He knew he would probably need stitches in his head, but apart from a few superficial cuts and bruises the aftermath of his fight with the dead soldier was nothing compared to some of the situations he and his group had been in.

"That guy was no more a soldier than you are. He was just posing as one. He was still infected, he didn't pass the scan. Don't know where he came from." Monroe explained, referring to the dead guy that had nearly killed Daryl. "This place is a fucking mystery." Monroe exclaimed.

"Place is secure down there, there's no more threats we could find anywhere." Daryl said in response. He was finally satisfied that he and Kyle had checked everywhere else in their area. They had found a few more walkers and more dead bodies that they'd presumed were former residents of this place but it had been hard to tell exactly, due to the amount of damage to the bodies. Daryl had tried to detach himself from the horror here, to tell himself it was just another of the world's many grave-yards, and not think of his own community back at Alexandria.

"Good work." Monroe responded, nodding. He was leaning up against a car, it was a silver Lamborghini Veneno. Daryl had never actually seen one of those before in real life. His eyes scanned it with interest and just for a second awe transformed his face. The vehicle would have some serious power and speed, he wouldn't mind taking it for a spin to see what it could do,

Monroe quirked a brow, "This thing here was worth more than my home back in the old world. To whoever owned it though, it was probably just short change. Just another trophy."

Daryl's features hardened. "Guessing it won't be doing them much good now." The corner of his mouth quirked up.

"Guessing it won't." Monroe responded, his eyes crinkling. "Know anything about cars? You could take it. If you could get it going and find enough gas to drive it out of here."

Daryl glanced back at it. "Nah. Aint no use to me now." He replied stubbornly. He knew if he worked on it, he could maybe get it going if his life depended on it. But it didn't.

Monroe patted his arm, "One day though!" He said with an amused smile.

Daryl scowled slightly. Not sure whether he should be offended or not. Did Monroe really think there would be a time when having a car like this would ever matter again? Daryl would rather stick to his bike. That was part of his identity and who he was, not a car he never would have owned in his wildest dreams in his old life.

"You made the right call becoming part of us. One day soon, when this is all over, you can do whatever you want. The world will be ours to own. You can get a car like this, go to Europe and sell your story, or stay here and retreat out to the woods somewhere quiet and live out your days in peace. Marry your girl and start a family, maybe.." He grinned.

Daryl's face twitched. Just the mere thought of any of those things being even remotely possible, blew his fucking mind. For a long time he had presumed the only thing waiting for him was a long hard fight for survival, followed by death. He never expected there to be any light at the end of that for him. Not really.

"You really think this is _ever_ going to be over?" He asked gruffly, a line appearing between his brows.

"I don't think it, I know it. It's gotta end some day. Nothing lasts forever." Monroe replied bluntly.

Daryl looked away. He'd never met anyone like Steve Monroe before. He wasn't naive and he wasn't an idiot. He knew the score, he was smart and he saw the bigger picture in a way that no-one else Daryl had encountered had yet. Maybe not even Sienna.

"What do we do now?" Daryl asked, his focus turning back to the torched community around them. Thinking they would need to start the clean up.

"Nothing."

Daryl's brow creased even more.

"It's a decision for some-one higher up than me. But I'm guessing they'll destroy it somehow. Knock it all down. Thats what they seemed to do with all the others!"

"There have been other places like this?" Daryl asked, trying to hide the fear from crossing his face as he thought about Alexandria. Deanna had told them that the military were meant to have arrived to protect it back at the start. But they never showed up. The set up seemed all too similar.

"Yeah, there were a few safe-zones like this set up around the country. They never last though. They always fall in the end. No-where like this can self sustain forever. Not in these times." Monroe explained and he looked Daryl straight in the eye.

Daryl averted his intense gaze and glanced down at his boots and a shiver ran through him for the second time that day. This thing was so much bigger than he, Rick or any of his old group could possibly have realized.

Could Monroe suspect Daryl was from another community too?

"It's going to be dark soon. We should hit the road." Monroe said loudly, looking away from Daryl and back at the rest of his men, gesturing for them to move.

Daryl nodded as he realized the only road he wanted to take right now, was the one leading him back to Sienna. But he also knew he had to find a way to get back to his friends too, he couldn't let them suffer the same fate of the place he was standing in right now.

* * *

Sienna was stood at the desk in the small room she, Sam and Louie worked in. She was frowning at the screen in front of her deep in concentration. It had been a busy few days and she hadn't had much sleep. There had been news of more infected people gathering momentum across the country. It seemed never-ending.

Her back stiffened as she sensed someone coming up behind her, a heavy hand touched her shoulder and she spun around and whipped her gun out from her belt to hold it to a bemused Daryl's neck.

"See you're putting my training to good use." He remarked with a smirk, raising a brow, he was impressed at how fast her reactions were.

Sienna broke into a smile as she lowered her gun and her arms flew up around his neck, her body colliding into his, nearly knocking him over as she kissed him. The physical exhaustion and pain Daryl had been experiencing moments before died under the sweet pressure of her lips. Time stood still as they both enjoyed the sudden moment of happiness to see each other again after five days apart from each other.

They broke apart and Sienna swept her blonde hair over her forehead allowing her big eyes to looked straight into Daryl's tired ones. "What happened?" She asked with concern, looking at his bruised face and the gash on his temple, hidden in part by his long greasy hair.

"Nothing I couldn't handle." He replied with a brief arrogant smirk.

He held her gaze. He couldn't remove his loving stare from the sparkling blue eyes perfectly framed by the sunny blonde hair flowing over her shoulders. Sienna bit her bottom lip in relief and smiled at his reaction, his tired expression seemed to transform at seeing her. The way his mouth slowly drew into a smile, followed by the flicker of light in his deep blue eyes.

The message alert sound suddenly interrupted them from Sienna's screen. She turned around to see whether it was anything important. Reading through it, she saw it wasn't anything that couldn't wait. Just a request for data from an old colleague still working in England.

Daryl wrinkled his brow as he glanced at what she was doing. She had two screens open, one was text and the other was grainy images. "Whats that?" He asked.

"That is a satellite image. Taken to track the mass movement of the infected. That image there is a mega herd I believe. Although it's difficult to tell exactly." She explained. "You'd need to ask someone more technical at reading these images."

"Where is it?" Daryl asked.

"Canada, I believe, the technology isn't very reliable now, it was somewhere near Montreal at the start. But they're on the move and picking up in size. I think the plan is to try and strategically stop them when the time is right." She said.

"How many of them are there?" He questioned seriously.

"Millions." She replied, looking up from what she was doing. "It's the biggest herd so far. It was a mass refugee camp at the start of all this that got over-run by the infected they think. No-ones been able to stop it so far and it keeps getting bigger as it moves across the continent. "

Daryl watched her as she finished off in silence. He thought about what she had just said. He had encountered some herds on the road before, but never any of that magnitude. It was pretty fucking alarming.

"Lets get out of here." Sienna said as she turned her attention back to Daryl.

He nodded and sighed heavily. His eyes flitted from her face, back to the screen behind her. There was something about it he couldn't get out of his head. Something worrying him.

He looked back to Sienna's searching eyes. "Are you okay?" She asked him.

Her face made him smile again. "Yeah. Just tired."

She placed her palms on his chest. "Come on. Lets get you cleaned up." She looked towards the door.

He draped his arm across her shoulder and cut his eyes to the direction of the door too in a manner that said, _let's go._

 _A **/N - Thanks for reading, please leave a review if you can! :) Slight spoiler for the next chapter, they will be heading back to Alexandria! (After Sienna helps Daryl get cleaned up ;)**_


	23. TWENTY THREE

Daryl took a deep breath and relaxed back into the hot bath tub. The scent of lavender essential oil filled the air and like most things he couldn't help but wonder where Sienna had gotten it from. He smiled as he felt her lips on his hair and her legs wrapped around his waist, her breasts were pushed against his back. It was the first time she had joined him in the tub. But it felt nice.

She had run him the bath after he had returned from his mission, and he had been more than happy to oblige on this occasion and get clean. He knew he had been filthy; covered in dirt, blood and sweat after his experience out on the road with Monroe and the others. For the first time in his life being un-washed had really been starting to bother Daryl recently. Deep down he knew he wouldn't have cared quite so much had Sienna not been there. He'd lost count of the number of subtle hints Carol had dropped back at Alexandria about him taking a bath. He'd given in on a few occasions, but not washing there for a while had been about him expressing who he was. He wasn't someone that would try and conform. He didn't care what people thought of him and his scruffy appearance.

Here that seemed a little ridiculous, no-one gave a damn about keeping up appearances, and given the fact he was getting laid regularly now, he felt he needed to at least try and make the effort to bath regularly.

"Kyle said you saved his life." She said, as she reached for the washcloth beside her. Daryl had been quiet since he had returned. They hadn't spoken properly about what had happened yet. Just that everyone there had been dead, and by all accounts Sienna concluded it must have been pretty horrific.

"He saved mine too." He mumbled, his long hair dripping in front of his eyes.

"He's a good guy, loyal, and tougher than he looks." Sienna said. She remembered when Kyle had first arrived, he had seemed like a feral kid. But then he had slowly opened up to her when they had both been working over at the restaurant/bar. He had wanted to work in return for his commissionaires for food and supplies. She had discovered he was smart, he had been studying engineering at college and he had an interest in books like her. She had leant him a few of her own, and they had become friends.

...

Daryl let out a small satisfied sigh as he relaxed back against her in the steamy perfumed bath water. He was back in relative safety again with her. For the minute he was happy. There was no immediate need to be on watch here or high alert for danger, the fight or flight feeling he seemed to permanently carry around with him had temporarily vanished, replaced with a new sense of comfort.

He enjoyed the moment and tried to ignore the ever present nagging feeling of guilt he got whenever he felt like this. _He was happy…_. when he had no idea what was happening to his friends. He had left them!

Sienna leaned back and lifted up the washcloth, it smelled good, a mixture of lavender and vanilla. She squeezed the excess water out of it and started rubbing it gently on the backs of his arms, increasing the pressure to massage his tired, aching shoulders and remove all traces of dirt.

"Mmm.." Daryl moaned, closing his eyes with the enjoyment as he rested his hands on her knees. He loved it when she massaged him, he had so much tension stored up in his muscles and she knew exactly how to try and work it out of him.

She moved the cloth over to work on his back and she felt him recoil when she touched his scars.

"Sorry." She said and a lock of the blonde hair piled up on top of her head fell down over her cheek.

"It's okay." He mumbled.

She carried on gently rubbing over his scarred back, she wanted to let him know they didn't bother her. He shouldn't be ashamed, they were just part of him. She brushed them with her fingertips and moved her mouth in to place a soft intimate kiss on the area between his shoulder blades.

"Relax." She said quietly.

Her eyes fell on the devil tattoos on his back. She traced them with the cloth. "When did you get these done?" She asked curiously.

"I've had them for years. My brother put me up to it. Said I needed to toughen up as a kid." He replied. "I used to think they whispered in my ear for me to do bad stuff when I was younger." He confessed, referring to the devils he had drawn on his back. "Don't make it right though, how we used to behave back then."

She didn't say anything as she swirled the cloth over his skin some more. She liked it when he opened up to her about his past. Little by little she was learning about his life before the outbreak. How hard he'd had it. The scars on his body were a clear indication of the abuse he must have suffered.

"You're not a bad person, Daryl." She said quietly, she could detect the trace of remorse in his voice.

He touched the area above her knee on her right leg, caressing it lightly with his rough fingers. He loved her long toned legs.

Sienna smiled to herself at how tender he could be. At first he had appeared to be rough around the edges and a little crass, but she was good at reading people and she had always suspected there was more to him than that. A caring side, possibly a little sensitive even and the man underneath all the crap life had piled on him was really starting to blossom in the post apocalyptic world. The way he cared so much about his friends and now her, made her heart melt a little. He was probably a sensitive kid too, which would have just made his father even more abusive.

She squeezed the cloth out on to his back, letting the warm water flow down and over his tattoos and scars. _'I love you' -_ She wanted to say, but she held it back at the last minute she wasn't sure if he would appreciate it again. She placed the washcloth down and wrapped her arms tightly around his chest instead, resting her head on the back of his damp shoulder.

"What was your brother like?" She asked.

"An asshole." He replied, smirking.

"Can't have been that bad if he looked out for you." She said.

"It was always just me and Merle." He responded thoughtfully.

"You miss him don't you?"

Daryl swallowed, he did miss his brother. But he didn't miss how things had been when he had been around. He could see that now. "He wasn't all bad, he just had a big mouth on him, classic redneck jerk….He would have loved you." He added, breaking into a slight grin. He could just picture the look on Merle's face if he could see Daryl now with a woman as beautiful and sexy as Sienna. Merle would have driven her mad with his perving and grotesque flirty comments.

Sienna exhaled and sat back, releasing her grip on his body. She bit her lip as she watched the water run down his clean naked body as he stood up. She followed him out of the tub and took a towel to dry him up. She liked taking care of him. He looked into her eyes as she finished up and he took the towel from her and did the same back. When they were finished she took him by the hand and led him to the bedroom.

They stopped at the foot of the bed and Sienna reached over to brush the still wet strands of hair away from Daryl's face so he could see her properly. He leaned in to kiss her, tightly embracing her in his arms. Her hand stroked his back, moving down to his behind. She slipped her hand around, smiling when she heard him groan with pleasure. He moved his lips away from hers to kiss her neck, breathing in her sweet scent.

Daryl knew he had to make her stop before he lost all control and it was over before it even got started, so he pushed her away from him and gently down on to the bed. His hands grabbed her shoulders, making her lie back on the bed and he just stared at her for a moment. His eyes dark with lust made her almost blush as he seemed to study every single part of her body.

She was so fucking perfect to him. He leaned over her and started kissing her again, his lips quickly travelling down her body. He wanted to make her feel just like she made him feel. She parted her legs for him as he got further down. Her fingers tangled into his messy hair as she felt his mouth on her kissing her, building anticipation. She arched her back as he started to use his tongue. He was so talented at this. He was starting to know her body so well now, he knew exactly how to make her go crazy with his actions. She writhed around a little and he used his hands to firmly hold her hips down on top of the sheets. His tongue not breaking contact with her.

She cried out his name, shaking, and he smiled, it had to be possibly one of the hottest things ever. He loved making her come. He moved up the bed and he hugged her still trembling body. She pressed her body against him, moving her lips in to his. He was throbbing now desperate to be inside her. She slid her leg under him and he moved to re-position himself…. when her radio beeped loudly.

She groaned and rolled over to glance at it, knowing it was late at night so there had to be a good chance it would be important. "It's a message Sam left earlier." She said and picked it up, her hair falling around her face as she looked down at it more carefully. "Shit."

"What is it?" Daryl asked as he sat up too.

"He's left me about six messages, he says it's urgent…" She tensed as there was a sudden loud knocking on her door. "Hey, Sienna are you in there?" It was Sam.

She looked at Daryl, before she quickly rushed to throw on the nearest pair of shorts and tee-shirt she could find from her bedroom floor. Darting to the door she opened it a jar, widening it as she heard Daryl doing up the belt on his jeans too behind her. "Hey, what's up?" She said breathlessly, as she saw Sam stood there.

He gave her a strange look as he took in her ruffled hair and clothes and his inquisitive brown eyes glanced behind her to where Daryl was stood. But he didn't comment on them as he just said. "You guys have got to see this."

They followed Sam down to the living room of the house that Sienna shared with him and Louie. Louie was in there along with Amelia, Kyle and to Sienna's annoyance, Alex too. Sam had his laptop open on the table and they were all staring at the image on it. Alex looked up and eyed Sienna up and down, lingering on her breasts and raising a brow, making Daryl scowl fiercely. He couldn't stand the guy and under different circumstances Daryl would have no trouble wiping the smug smile off Alex's face with his fists.

Sienna just ignored Alex and looked to the screen. "What is it?" She asked.

"It's the satellite images of the mega herd. They've managed to get a better signal. It seems they weren't entirely accurate with it's current location. It's much further in than we realized. It's following a different path. It's taken out a few of our centres already. There was nothing they could do." Sam said excitedly. He held up a map and pointed to it with his index finger. "It's following this line here, which means it's heading straight for DC now and the red-zone around it."

"The capital?" Sienna mumbled, her eyes sliding over to meet Daryl's. She knew that was roughly around the area where his community was located. Where all his friends were.

"Yeah." Sam replied. "The words been put out to evacuate any of the safe areas in it's path. This is big. _Really big!_ Once they eliminate this, they'll have removed a good percentage of the 'infected' still left."

"So, what's going to happen?" Sienna asked, digging her nails into her palm.

"Aint it obvious." Alex spoke up. "They'll nuke it. As soon as it reaches that red-zone they'll get the bombs out. It's the only way to stop it now."

Sienna shot him a filthy look. He seemed to almost be enjoying this. It was all just a game to him.

"What?…They've done it before. At the start it was rumoured the military wiped out entire towns with air strikes where it was really bad." Alex replied with a shrug. "What's so different about this? There's no-body worth bothering about left in those areas." He said as he eyed her a little suspiciously.

"How long?" Daryl asked in a low voice, looking at Sam.

"Days, a week maybe. They won't do anything before then. They'll wait until it reaches the infected red-zone." Sam replied as all eyes turned to him.

"Then it's bye bye DC. It was nice knowing ya." Alex said breaking into a laugh.

Daryl felt his jaw tighten and his fists clench as a heat spread up his face. "I'm going for a smoke." He said to Sienna in a low voice. He had to get out of there to think, before he killed Alex.

Outside in the cool dark night, fresh from the salty sea air blowing in from the ocean, Daryl leaned back against the wall. He looked down to see Suki had appeared by his side, her sympathetic eyes were looking up at him. He patted he head and put his thumb-nail up to his mouth to bite down on it. It was crazy how quickly things could change. One minute he was blissfully enjoying the moment with Sienna, the next his whole world had seemed to come crashing down around him again. He felt as though he was being tested all over again. He had met new people here, formed new allegiances in this unfamiliar place. He had been on both a mental and physical journey, he had faced death, he had faced deep personal challenges and he had been forced to confront his fears. But out of those moments had come a new life for him. A new realization of who he was.

But Daryl knew he hadn't finished being tested yet. He faced another challenge on a much greater scale and he knew that would involve a potential sacrifice.

He heard footsteps approaching him in the distance. He looked up flicking his hair away from his eyes expecting to see Sienna. Instead it was Kyle.

"Hey man." Kyle said standing next to him.

Daryl gave him a friendly nod.

"Everything alright?" The younger guy said slowly and a little tentatively.

"What they're saying in there - are they right?" Daryl asked in a low hushed voice, his face serious and full of concern.

Kyle nodded, "Yeah, they're not bullshitting around for a story- this time. Ever since I got here there have been rumours of this mega herd. I'm not an expert on those types of images, but my dad worked for NASA he used to show me things sometimes. I can tell that image is real. That herd is really out there."

Daryl paused, wondering if he should say anything more, before he trusted his instincts and said, "I got people back near DC. My group, they're still there. They have a walled community, not quite on the same scale, but a bit like the place we were just at."

Kyle's eyes widened with panic as he said immediately. "You have to get them out of there."

Daryl felt a thud hit his insides at the urgency in Kyle's voice.

"These people, they don't mess around. Alex was right, they'll launch air strikes soon. You have to tell Monroe. They can send a team back there straight away." Kyle said.

Daryl shook his head. "Nah. I'm not telling anyone."

"You can't go back there on your own, Daryl. You'd never make it, it's too risky."

"Don't have a choice." Daryl responded, looking away into the night.

Kyle fixed his dark eyes on Daryl's troubled face. "I'd come with you man. But even the two of us on our own, there's a good chance we wouldn't make it. We'd need vehicles, weapons, equipment."

"Could get all that." Daryl said.

"We'd need more people and if you don't go to Monroe, who else can you ask? Those geeks in there." Kyle said, jerking his head towards the house. Daryl knew both he and Kyle could handle themselves better than the media guys could. "They might be the only friends you trust here, but I doubt they'll be up for it without back up. Maybe Sienna would…"

Daryl shook his head immediately, "No it's too dangerous."

"Then you have to go to Monroe. What are you so afraid of? That they'll kill your friends? Because you know they won't do that. They'll bring them back here, like every other survivor, they'll help them. Like they did for us and Aaron."

Daryl narrowed his eyes as he his behind his hair again. He wished more than ever right now that Aaron was here with him too, that he didn't have to make this decision on his own."Wanted to give them the choice." He mumbled. At first Daryl and Aaron's plan had been to suss the place out here before they went back to Alexandria on their own. Even now that Daryl knew what it really was about here, he had wanted to stick to his principles, to inform Rick and the others about the hope here without them being forced to abandon their current home and have it destroyed against their will.

"If we don't tell Monroe and we don't make it back, they won't have _any_ choice." Kyle said passionately.

Daryl slowly nodded his head as he stared at the younger guy. He knew he was talking sense. Things had been changing more and more each day and Daryl knew he was starting to run out of reasons why he shouldn't come clean about his community here now.

…..

It was quiet as Daryl made his way back inside. He had agreed with Kyle that they would speak again first thing in the morning. He had no idea what the time was right now, but he guessed it was the small hours of the morning as everywhere seemed to have shut down. He had half expected Sienna and the others to still have been up, but he guessed they had gone to try and sleep. That was what semi-normal people did here.

He made his way back up to Sienna's room, to see the light was still on. She was sat on the bed in the black lacy vest she always slept in. He liked it, it clung to her curves perfectly. She gave him a weak smile, her blue eyes expressing a concern.

"Did Kyle find you?" She asked. She had wanted to follow him, but had sensed he needed some space. Then Kyle had offered to go after him and she had felt perhaps if Daryl was going to open up to anyone else around here, it would be him. Kyle was young but he had a wise head on his shoulders and she knew he would try and talk sense into her stubborn lover.

"Yeah." Daryl said quietly, averting her gaze and sinking down on to the bed next to her.

He kicked his boots off and sighed, putting his hands on his head. "I've got to get them out of there."

"I know." She said, reaching for his hand.

She placed a kiss on the side of his face, brushing the scruff of his beard with her lips. "You need to rest now though. You haven't slept since you got back. You'll be no use to anyone otherwise."

…

Daryl lay down on the bed next to her, savouring the smell and feel of her sleeping next to him. He closed his eyes, fully expecting to spend the night tossing and turning with anguish. Instead within seconds he was gone.

He opened his eyes to see he was back at Alexandria. _He felt different, just like he had before. Anxious and sad behind the eyes, and angry too. He looked around to see everyone he cared about was there. Rick and the kids, Michonne, Carol, Maggie and Glenn. They were all looking at him. Something was wrong. He looked behind Carol to see someone was stood behind her. He took a step closer to see Sophia walking towards him, she was alive! Until a gunshot rang out and she was dead, blood was everywhere, she was turning. Then she was gone and he turned to look at Maggie, to see Beth was now stood next to her, she was smiling at him. 'No!" He tried to yell as he saw it happening all over again in slow motion... but it was too late, a second shot ran out and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. Beth was dead too! 'No not Beth!' ..."No, no, no!" He heard another man yelling. It was Rick, there was a third gun shot... "No, no, no." It wasn't Rick yelling this time, it was him…."No..It's my fault!" Daryl yelled._

Daryl's eye's suddenly snapped wide open, his back was drenched in sweat as he yelled out coming out of the throws of his nightmare. He quickly threw back the sheets. He could hear Sienna's voice calling out to him in the dark, but he ignored her as he went into the bathroom. He switched on the light to stare into the mirror at his harrowing reflection. He had lost the eye-bags and tired lines somewhat since he had been here, but looking at his reflection right now he could see them creeping back.

"Daryl." He looked over to see Sienna walking up to join him.

Sienna had no idea what exactly was going on with him right now. She had woken to hear him yelling out in his sleep. It wasn't the first time that had happened either, she gathered he was suffering from some kind of PTSD and she wanted to be able to help him.

"It wasn't your fault, Daryl." She said moving towards him, forcing him to look at her. "Whatever happened it wasn't your fault."

His eyes shot a panicked look towards her. Confusion, terror, pain…grief it was all there. "She died because of me." He mumbled, his eyes were moist with emotion. His voice broke and he had to clear his throat again before he went on. "Beth...I couldn't protect her and I couldn't save her." He looked straight in to Sienna's beautiful blue eyes.

"It wasn't your fault." She repeated again slowly and he took a step towards her, crashing his mouth into hers. All he wanted at that moment was for the pain to go away as he kissed her furiously.

After a moment, she put her palms up to his chest and gently pushed him back. "Come back to bed." She said taking both his hands in hers.

...

"As soon as it's light I'm telling Monroe everything." He said, once they were back in bed. He was lying on his side facing the door and Sienna had her arms wrapped around the back of his waist. Her face in his neck.

He shuddered. "I don't want to lose anyone else."

"I'm coming with you." She said in a determined voice in the dark.

"No, it's too risky." He responded immediately.

"Daryl, it's not negotiable." She said firmly. She had known for a little while now that if he went back for his people, she would go to.

"Thanks." He draw in a deep breath and sighed feeling a warmth spread through him. She was willing to risk her life for him.

He also couldn't deny that secretly the thought of her going back with him didn't make him feel a whole lot better. Having her there by his side. She was learning how to handle herself out there, he'd been teaching her and if he told Monroe and they weren't alone, it wouldn't be so much of a risk either, he silently reasoned with himself.

Sienna's chest pressed into his muscular back. Her cheek rested on his shoulder. Her eyes tightened shut as she tried to envelope his frame. All she wanted to do was protect him, to shield him from all those dark outside forces that seemed to be hellbent on hurting him - the man she loved with all her heart. He needed her and she needed him.

"Tell me about them." She whispered into his sweaty neck. "Tell me about your people."

He slowly shifted around to face her. He knew he was ready to tell her everything.

* * *

"You got a sec?" Daryl asked, walking into Monroe's office bright and early the next morning.

"Sure, shut the door." The older man replied, looking at Daryl he sensed it was important.

"What if I was to tell you, there was some place I needed to get back to, a place where people needed our help. Another walled community where people were carrying on like before, more or less." Daryl said.

"I'm listening.."

 _A/N - Thanks for reading, please leave a review if you can :) I apologize, I haven't had time to do a sweep for errors. But i just got a little submit happy to get this out as I won't get another chance over the weekend. So I will probably go back and touch it up at a later date! Thanks for being such amazing readers. I just can't get enough of this story at the moment!_


	24. TWENTY FOUR

**A _/N - Just want to so a big thank you, for all the support from my lovely readers and fellow writers last chapter. It really makes it all worth-while sharing my stories with you! Sorry for the late update, I have been SO busy this past week, but really wanted to update...Because I love this story and I love writing it!_**

* * *

Daryl stepped out of Monroe's office feeling as though a weight had temporarily been lifted off his shoulders. The older man hadn't been surprized to hear about Alexandria and he had shared Daryl's concerns about evacuating everyone there. He had agreed to Daryl taking a team into the 'infected' red-zone where Alexandria was based to get his old community out of there and hopefully back here safely. Monroe had also reassured Daryl that there were no plans that he was aware of yet to launch any air strikes in that area. But Daryl knew the mega herd alone would be enough to wipe out the small town, so it was imperative he got back there as quickly as he could.

Daryl could take vehicles, weapons, supplies and soldiers. He would have a pass to get through all the borders between zones, and his people could come back here to quarantine and then eventual safety, re-joining the world again, just like Daryl had. He could rescue them and in theory it should all be okay.

But Daryl knew it wouldn't be that easy. Once they got back to Alexandria he would have a task on his hands to drop the bombshell of where he had been for the past few months to Rick and his friends. He then had no idea how they would react. He knew Rick and the other's believed in him, but they hadn't always seen eye to eye and he wondered whether they would be prepared to just up and leave the only real home and safety they'd had since the infection had started, on his 'say so' alone.

Daryl also knew he had no real clue what had happened back there since he had been gone and that thought alone made him feel uneasy.

...

Once outside the building, the first thing Daryl saw was Sienna rushing towards him. "There you are," she said breathlessly, looking flustered.

Daryl's eyes narrowed, something was wrong, she appeared on edge and her eyes were wide and startled.

"It's Aaron!" She exclaimed, before he had the chance to speak. "You have to come."

Daryl's system filled with dread as he suddenly prepared for the worst. ' _No, not now, Aaron!'_

Then she smiled. "He's woken up!"

...

Daryl followed Sienna quickly over to the hospital building where his friend had been lying in a coma for pretty much the entire time they had been there. He managed to fill her in briefly on his conversation with Monroe and what needed to be done in preparation for the trip back to Alexandria on the way.

...

Moments later they were stood outside Aaron's room. Daryl looked in straight away to see to his amazement and joy that Aaron was sat up talking to both Amelia and the same nurse that had been there when Daryl himself had first woken up all those weeks ago in the same building.

Amelia looked over to where they were looking through the glass window. She leaned over to say something to the nurse and they both walked out of the room to where Daryl and Sienna were waiting anxiously outside.

"You can see him, just go easy on him. He's still weak and recovering from major brain surgery." Amelia said to Daryl.

"He going to be okay?" Daryl asked quickly.

"He's still got a long way to go in terms of his recovery. But early indications are that, yes, he should be okay. He'll just need a lot of rest now," Amelia explained to a concerned Daryl.

Relief instantly swept through Daryl to hear her say that. Aaron was going to be okay. Daryl had been a little pre-occupied, but he had never stopped thinking about his friend and praying he would pull through. He wasn't quite sure what he would have done if he had lost him too.

…..

"Hey man," Daryl said as he entered Aaron's room with Sienna by his side.

Aaron looked over and broke into a genuine smile to see Daryl's familiar face in front of him.

"Hey," Aaron replied in a croaky voice from where he was propped up in his bed.

"How are you feeling?" Daryl asked. Aaron had the look of someone that had just woken up from a long coma - confused, very tired and little overwhelmed.

"I have to say, I've been better," he replied, eyeing Daryl up and down.

Aaron's weary eyes then moved over to glance at Sienna stood next to Daryl, and she gave him a bright smile in return.

"It's great to see you back with us," Sienna smiled.

Aaron recognized the blonde straight away, she had been there on the last night he remembered, she'd had a nice energy about her, a sort of sparkle. Aaron re-called he had warmed to her immediately. He studied her face for a second more as bits of that night slowly started to come back to him. They had been at a bar and he had left early to go back and rest, leaving Daryl alone with her. How could so much time have passed since then?

"Yeah, you had us worried there for a while, man," Daryl said, interrupting Aaron's thoughts.

"Well it feels good, although a little weird, to be back. They said I was out for weeks," Aaron responded, putting his hand up to his temple, he was pretty freaked out right now.

Sienna sensed Aaron wanted to speak to Daryl alone. "I'm going to go and find Sam," she said to Daryl. "It really is great to see you back, Aaron," she stressed again, turning to look at Daryl's friend again before she left the room.

Aaron broke into another weak smile. It hadn't escaped his notice the look she had given Daryl as she had left, along with the way her hand had gently touched his forearm and he hadn't flinched. It was a gesture that Daryl was comfortable with her touching him, that they were probably used to being intimate with each other. His lips twitched upwards some more and a twinkle darted across his eye. He wasn't in the least bit surprised. He suddenly remembered that he'd had a feeling that something was going to happen between them. Daryl had tried to act in-different after she had appeared at the bar, but it was obvious he had been attracted to her and vice versa. That had, in part, been one of the reasons Aaron had insisted on leaving alone.

….

Daryl watched Sienna walking out of the room before he perched down on the chair to the side of the bed. The same chair he had sat on many times before when he had come in here to see his friend in his state of unconsciousness. He covered his hand with his mouth as his eyes met Aaron's straight on.

Aaron's serious gaze flickered over Daryl's face. He had so many questions, he had no idea where to start. Daryl was still here, weeks later, with no sign of anyone else from their old community. Why?

He looked different too. Healthier and almost younger. His eye-bags were better and he appeared to be well-rested compared to the permanently haunted, pained and tired look he'd always seemed to carry on his face in the short time Aaron had known him.

"So, what's been going on then?" Aaron asked.

"You remember much?" Daryl questioned in response, averting the question slightly.

Aaron paused and looked away, "I…err…remember being brought into this place. We were given accommodation and then there was a bar full of people.''

"You collapsed the morning after that. They said it was serious and they had to operate. You've been out ever since. But the doctors here are good. They've been taking care of you well, I've made sure of that," Daryl explained. He knew not to overload Aaron with too much information straight away, he remembered what Amelia had said about going easy on him.

"You're still here?" Aaron said, sounding confused.

"Yeah." This time Daryl was the one to look away, he dropped his shoulders and rubbed the side of his head. "A lot happened. They asked me to stay and work with them. Turns out you were right, this place isn't a trap, it's exactly what it claims to be - a UN operation to try and turn things around."

Daryl looked up to see Aaron look him straight in the eye again as Aaron said one word. " _Alexandria?"_

"I wasn't able to get back there. They closed down the borders between zones….It wasn't possible…" Daryl said, stopping to clear his throat before he continued to say. "But, we need to go back there now. So, I'm going out today with a team from here. They're going to help bring them back. Because they can't stay there, it's not safe anymore."

A look of hope appeared on Aaron's face. He knew there was more to it than Daryl was prepared to say right now, and he also knew he couldn't go back to Alexandria with him in his present condition. But he trusted Daryl. If there really was any kind of threat to their people, he knew Daryl would go back to help them. He would bring Eric and the people Aaron cared about back to him here.

"I'm going to make sure nothing happens to them," Daryl stressed, echoing Aaron's thoughts. He had left out the part about the herd as he didn't want to alarm Aaron too much without needing to at the moment. But he felt it only fair to tell him most of the truth about what what was going on.

"I know." Aaron said, his tone serious. He had complete and utter faith in Daryl.

The room fell silent for a second.

"You want some water?" Daryl asked, standing up to reach for the glass to the side of the bed and pass it over to Aaron.

"Thanks," Aaron replied as he took it from him to take a small sip.

He handed it back and watched as Daryl placed it back down. Still studying him carefully, Aaron broke into a more light-hearted smile and raised a brow as Daryl turned back around to face him, and Aaron's eyes burned with a new kind of curiosity. "So, I gotta ask, you look a whole lot cleaner then when I last saw you, which can only mean one thing.… You and Sienna…..How long have you two been…y'know?"

Daryl felt a heat spread up his cheeks as he averted the question at first. It was no secret he was intimately involved with Sienna now, but he hadn't quite been prepared for the directness of Aaron's question.

He shrugged his shoulders and jerked his head, flicking his hair. Trying to brush it off casually.

"Okay." Aaron responded, even more amused now, he could sense Daryl's awkwardness. Daryl wasn't used to being in this position.

"You don't seem surprized?" Daryl eventually mumbled, looking at Aaron's face.

"I'm not really. I guess I had a feeling something was going to happen, there was a definite tension in the air….I do remember that. I just wasn't sure whether you'd man up enough to actually do anything about it," Aaron joked.

"It just kinda happened and it's not what you're thinking." Daryl mumbled awkwardly again. He didn't want Aaron to think he had abandoned going back to their people, just because of some chick he was sleeping with.

Aaron's face became more serious again. He had enjoyed winding Daryl up, but Aaron was secretly, pleasantly surprized to wake up and find him looking so different, happy almost. Daryl was clearly very worried about their people still, but Aaron could tell Daryl had found something now, something really good, and Aaron knew that Daryl of all people deserved that. _Happiness._ From the little he knew of Daryl he wouldn't just get involved with anyone, it would have to be someone really special to allow him to drop his guard.

"Well, I'm glad it did, because she seems like one of the good ones." Aaron said with a genuine smile now. "And you _really_ needed to get laid too." He added with a wink.

* * *

"Thanks for coming." Sienna said to Sam in the back of the truck as she looked at him fiddling with his camera.

He looked up at her and grinned. "It's no problem, I'm not going to let you go out there and get the story of a lifetime without me."

She shook her head and smiled, she knew that was partly the reason that Sam, and Louie too, were risking their lives to come along with her and Daryl on the trip back to his community. But she also knew they were there because they cared about her too. They were friends and a unit.

As well as Sam and Louie, Amelia and Kyle had come along too, but Alex thankfully had stayed behind.

"You will owe me one though," Sam joked and raised his brows suggestively.

"Easy.. her hunter boyfriend's just out there and he has a bow and arrow too." Louie said with a grin from where he was sat near them, and they all looked out the window to where Daryl was stood outside with Kyle doing some final checks.

"Ahhh..I can 'take' him," Sam joked some more.

Sienna laughed, she knew Sam was just messing around. Their friendship was strictly platonic and that was why she loved him so much, because to him she was just a genuine friend. She looked to her side to where Amelia had silently appeared with a sulky expression, and Sienna wished she and Sam would sort their shit out. One minute Sam and Amelia were together, the next they weren't. Sienna didn't care one way or the other, she just didn't care for the atmosphere when they'd had a fight.

Amelia was coming along as the designated medic, Sienna was flattered Amelia valued their friendship so much to do so, but she also suspected Amelia had volunteered in part because she didn't want to be left out of the excitement of another potential adventure. She seemed to seek out the thrill of going out on the field for different reasons to Sienna and her colleagues.

Sienna's eyes than wandered further up the truck to where Daryl had now climbed on board and was locked in a serious conversation with the leading soldier, 'Trent'. He was a tall, fair-haired guy in his late 30's and one of Monroe's right hand men, who often led runs out into dangerous 'infected' zones. Trent was a decent enough guy, strong and loyal, and he was definitely someone you would want to have on your side. Knowing he was here as well as Daryl, made Sienna feel happier that they would be okay and able to defend themselves against potential threats from rebels or the infected and anything else that could be lurking once they got back to Alexandria.

As if sensing her watching him Daryl's eyes briefly looked over in Sienna's direction and they shared a moment of fleeting eye contact, before he turned back to what he was doing. Sienna felt so proud of the way he was taking it upon himself to be responsible for all their well-being, as well as try and save his old community. She knew he wouldn't let them down.

* * *

They had been going for hours when they came to a halt to re-fill the engine. Sienna stepped out of the truck to sit on a grass verge next to Amelia, by the side of the main road they had been travelling on.

The road they had taken had been built in the days of wealth and grandeur. It was wide enough for several lanes of cars in each direction and would once have been flat and glossy black with neat lines of white and yellow. Now it was just grey, cracked and pot-holed. There was no paint left, and no cars either. It painted a petty depressing picture and Sienna couldn't help but feel a little sad as she sat next to her friend.

She sighed into her hands, allowing her blonde hair to flop over her face as she looked down at the long stretch of road in front of her. Even after being out all day it still seemed as though they had a lot much more ground to cover before they reached their destination.

Daryl was busy examining a map with Trent and Kyle a little further away. Sienna was glad Kyle had come along too. He seemed to have Daryl's back in a way none of the soldiers could.

Amelia observed Sienna gazing at Daryl. "So, whats the deal? Does Bear Grylls have a woman back there?" She asked abruptly, referring to Alexandria.

Sienna rolled her eyes a little at the typical, 'Amelia' comment. "No." She replied.

Amelia raised her eyebrows. "What never? He must have had someone, he's a man."

Sienna looked back at her friends inquisitive expression. She had to remember Amelia and the others had only just discovered Daryl came from a town of survivors, she could hardly blame them for being curious. "No. I don't think he was like that." She replied honestly.

"All men are like that." Amelia responded bluntly. "They are led by their dicks."

They both then turned to look back at Daryl and the other guys. Sienna shook her head, at first she too had found it hard to believe, when Daryl had told her he hadn't got physically intimate with anyone for years. But after she had gotten to know him better she had seen how difficult it was for him to let anyone get close. Sienna had worked hard to get him to trust her and be with her like he was now, and she wasn't about to spill his past secrets to Amelia, so she just shrugged again and looked away. "Maybe he was too busy trying to survive." She dismissed.

"Pffft.." Amelia responded.

Sienna ignored her and shook her hair out of it's messy ponytail to scoop it back up again tightly. "Is this anti-men phase anything to do with you moving out of the house?" She enquired, turning the focus away from Daryl and back on to Amelia who hadn't been sleeping in the house Sienna shared with the other guys, for the past week now.

"Who say's I'm anti-men? I love men…Just having to sleep in the room next to you two, hasn't exactly made for a great night's sleep recently." Amelia replied sarcastically.

Sienna blushed slightly at the thought that her friends could hear her having sex. Then she felt a tingle start to form in her groin as she realized it had been well over a week since she'd actually had full sex with Daryl and she had no idea when they'd get the chance again now. The tingling increased as she saw him start to walk towards her and she remembered how great it felt to have him inside her.

"You okay?" He said quietly to her. It was the first chance he'd had to speak to her properly since they had set off.

Sienna nodded and stroked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear as her cheeks burned and she tried to compose herself. She knew any erotic thoughts would be the last thing on Daryl's mind right now.

"I'm thinking we should have some down-time here for a bit, this area still seems quite clear and it will be dark soon. We're not going to make it back by nightfall. We can rest up for a few hours and then hit the road again. We'll arrive back at Alexandria in daylight." Daryl said as he perched down beside her. His first instinct these days was always to keep off the main roads as much as possible and stick to the forests and the country. But right now he knew there weren't likely to bump into many walkers and they were well prepared to defend themselves against any attacks launched by any other groups.

Sienna nodded, pleased he was letting her in on his thinking. "You need to rest." She said, noticing how tired he looked. He had barely slept the night before. After he had been woken by his nightmare, they had stayed up talking. He had told her things about his group and what they had been through. He had told her about Rick and his children. About Carol and the search for her daughter. Then about the Greene family, and the tragic circumstances under which they had lost both Beth and Hershel, for which Sienna knew Daryl felt responsible.

Daryl looked at her and he wasn't about to argue. Satisfied they were safe here for the time being he allowed himself to fall back onto the grass beside her. Amelia had moved away and no-one seemed to be paying them much attention as he found his head was rested on Sienna's lap. He let out a long breath, taking comfort from the feel of her body as he felt her fingers start to play with his hair affectionately, and he stared up at the long glowing light from the sky as the sun began to sink below the horizon for another day. They were a day closer to making it back to Alexandria.

* * *

The air felt fresh and new as the next morning they made their descent down the barren stretch of road that Daryl had come to recognise well. A shiver ran down his spine as they eventually passed the overgrown sign for Alexandria.

Sienna's blue eyes widened as she took in the sign for the $800,000 houses from where she was sat beside him. Daryl hadn't really gone into too much detail about what Alexandria was actually like. She felt a pit of nerves form in her stomach as she realized that soon they would be back there. They'd talked about it a lot, debated the reasons why they needed to return, but now that was becoming a reality… How the hell was it actually going to go down?

...

Daryl felt a surge of emotion hit him as he finally saw the walls of Alexandria in front of him. They'd parked up to approach the gates on foot from the edge of the surrounding forest.

He remembered how he had felt the first time he and his group had arrived here with Aaron. They'd been on the brink of death, delirious with hunger and exhaustion, and raw with grief. They'd been skeptical and full of suspicion after everything they had been through, but they'd had nothing to lose by taking a chance on it. Their lives had been turned around dramatically that day, as Daryl realized it had been the first in a long chain of events that had brought him right back here now.

They stopped walking and the silence from the forest was interrupted by the screech of a loud bird flying overhead. Daryl looked back to where Kyle and Trent were behind him, waiting to follow his lead. "Once we get to the gates they'll let us in," he said in a hushed voice.

But a thud of anxiety hit him.. something was wrong. It was too quiet. There was no sounds of voices going about their everyday duties, no-one was on the look-out tower either. He reached for his gun and signalled with his left hand for them to get closer.

Then a single gun shot rang out from inside.

Within seconds Daryl was gesturing for Kyle to move in the opposite direction, while Daryl and the others moved closer to the entrance gates.

* * *

Rick was angry, really fucking angry! His body was fuelled with the fight or flight adrenaline he always got as an automatic, instant reaction to a threat. He clenched his teeth as his strained eyes looked menacingly back at the group of armed men surrounding his people. With their scruffy clothes and cold expressionless eyes, together with the W marked on their foreheads, they could only be part of the same group that Rick and his people had naively thought they had dealt with weeks before.

The other group hadn't been armed then and they had been fairly easy to overpower with the ammunition Rick's group had. They'd been able to take the wolves by surprize with their skilled ability to fight, and on that occasion Rick's people had won. Except they clearly hadn't eliminated all of them. At least one of the wolves must have gotten away and found out where their guns were stored to take them and come back with more people, even more psychotic looking than the first lot had been. With only one thing on their mind. To kill everyone here and take Alexandria and everything in it.

Rick knew he couldn't let that happen as his strong grip clutched hold of his his gun, and he desperately tried to formulate some sort of a plan, fast. He couldn't give up, when they had come so far. But he also knew these people couldn't be reasoned with easily. They had gone beyond any sense of right or wrong. They were as inhuman as the walkers outside the walls. Only far more dangerous.

He glanced sideways to Michonne to see she too had the same look on her face, Glenn as well and Abraham. Hardened and fierce, with a trace of desperation and terror lying underneath. There had to be at least ten men in front of them, all armed. They were out-numbered, not all Rick's people were armed or could fight, and Rick and his inner circle couldn't defend them all alone. But they had come back from worse and Rick wasn't about to give up without a fight.

"What do you want?" He yelled, gripping his gun tighter as a vein popped out of his neck. Fear was starting to take over and the need to shoot, because he knew any second the enemy group could start firing and it would all be over. But Rick knew he had to stay calm and focus. His people were counting on him.

"You know what we want." The leader said.

"We can work something out," Rick replied, not liking his chances, but he knew he had to at least try before it turned into an all out shoot out. Any minute now it would be war…Any minute now it could all be over.

"There isn't anything to work out, you better start saying your goodbyes." The other man said with no emotion.

"No wait." It was Morgan that spoke and all eyes turned to him as he boldly took a step towards them with his wooden sword in his hands.

Within seconds a single shot was fired straight at him hitting him on the shoulder and knocking him to the ground. Then another short was fired.

Rick had thought he was done praying to God, or the universe, or whoever else the hell was listening, but at that moment in time he knew he needed some help from somewhere, as he started to take his aim, about to pull the trigger at the leader before he was able to shoot Rick first.

But before he got the chance another shot came out of no-where and the leader of the wolves was on the ground. He had been shot through the back of the head by what appeared to be a sniper shot. Rick glanced up to the tower to see there was a figure there with a rifle and not someone he recognised.

The mysterious shot seemed to have stalled and confused everyone for a moment as all noise ceased. Then another loud sound erupted and the entrance gates burst open amid a sea of gun fire into the backs of the group of wolves.

Looking at the new arrivals, Rick's eyes widened as recognition dawned on his face and he saw that it was _Daryl!_ His loyal friend, the man he considered to be his brother. He was back, and he was leading a group of what appeared to be soldiers. Rick wasted no time in joining them to fire too, he'd knew he'd have to save the questions for later as he focused on taking the wolves down with them.

The enemy group having been taken by surprize were all on the floor in minutes, having taken out a couple of casualties on Rick's side too. Rick did a quick mental check to see that to his relief out of his original group; Michonne, Carol, Glenn, Sasha and Abraham were all still standing, and Maggie, Rosita, Tara and Eugene had been hiding in the medical building with Carl and Judith.

"It's okay you can stand down," Daryl yelled.

"That all of them?" One of the soldiers asked in a British accent.

Daryl nodded.

Rick's attention then turned fully to Daryl, his head was swirling with curiosity and confusion. They had feared they might never see Daryl again. Now he was back, with a group of soldiers. Why? What the hell was going on? Who exactly was he with? Where the hell had he been?

They had never given up hope that Daryl and Aaron were still out there. But as the days had turned into weeks and there had been no sign from them, they had started to fear for the worst. But no-one had been prepared to fully accept that their brave and gruff, redneck friend was actually gone. Instead they had done what they always did when something tragic happened to them - they just kept going. Because they really had no other choice.

But now, truer than ever, Daryl never failed to surprize them. Rick's eyes scanned his friend's profile as Daryl looked back at him with small hesitant grin. He looked subtly different. His face was fuller, his hair was tidier and his eyes didn't look so haggard and lined. His clothes were similar looking but smarter than the old tattered outfit he had always worn when he had been with them before, and he was wearing a bullet proof vest.

Rick took a step closer towards Daryl and gave him a huge smile, the first thing he did was put a firm hand on his arm in a friendly and emotional gesture, pulling him into a hug and patting him on the back. "It's great to see you," he said, looking him in the eye before he stepped back again.

"You too." Daryl responded.

Rick looked back to Carol to see she was just as shell shocked as he was to see Daryl come back like this. But despite their shock, Rick couldn't deny it wasn't an amazing feeling to firstly see Daryl again, and secondly to know they had successfully fought off another attack and their community was temporarily safe again.

Rick's gaze then briefly fell beyond Daryl as he looked over the people he had brought back here with him. They were clearly his allies, friends even, and seemed to be almost following his lead. A little way behind the soldiers, there were what looked like some ordinary civilians. A few guys, an asian woman and a blonde woman, all wearing bullet proof vests.

"We need to talk," Rick then said, his eyes moving back to meet Daryl's full on again.

"We do," Daryl replied.

 **A/N - Thanks for reading, please leave a review if you can.**


	25. TWENTY FIVE

Daryl took a moment to survey the surroundings, feeling a little uneasy. And for a moment his guilt set in. Apart from the carnage of the fight, everything seemed to be the same. The same streets, trees and houses. Nothing had changed. Except him. He hadn't been there, fearless and dependable, to help them anymore.

Then everything around Daryl seemed to move so quickly. He hadn't spoken to anyone except his brief exchange with Rick seconds before, he knew there was no time for any emotional reunions yet. Trent was already instructing his men to deal with the dead bodies of the rebel group, to strip them of their weapons and valuables and then move them to a pile to be burned, as was the usual protocol.

Rick along with Michonne, Glenn, Abraham and Sasha, were looking on in shock still. Daryl knew they needed explanations, fast.

"He's bleeding, we need to find Denise," Carol yelled out with panic, from where she was crouched down beside an injured Morgan.

Daryl quickly looked back to search for Amelia, to see Morgan was already on her radar as she stepped over towards them. Her gaze fell to Daryl as he jerked his head to signal it was ok, and she made her way over to where Morgan was lying on the ground. Both Morgan and Carol shot her a suspicious look as she crouched beside them. "I'm a doctor, I can help you," she explained to Morgan.

With a bead of sweat winding down his forehead, Morgan waved his hand, indicating she could go ahead.

"You have a doctor with you?" Rick suddenly asked Daryl, watching Amelia examining Morgan.

"Yeah," Daryl replied.

"We need her to take a look at Carl," Rick exclaimed, looking sideways to see Michonne had appeared next to him, a look of hope on her face.

"What's wrong with him?" Daryl was quick to ask.

"He got shot, in the eye," Rick replied. "Denise has managed to keep the infection at bay for now, but he needs a proper doctor."

Daryl nodded, as concern instantly hit him for Carl's well-being as he gestured to Amelia to join them.

"He should be fine, there was an exit wound on the shoulder so he won't need surgery," Amelia explained, referring to Morgan's injuries.

"There's a boy that needs your help," Daryl said hurriedly.

Amelia nodded, looking from Daryl, to Rick and Michonne.

"My son," Rick said. "I'll take you to him."

Daryl watched as they walked off and he turned back to see what else needed to be done. Trent, Kyle and some of the others seemed to have the situation under control. Daryl found his eyes instinctively look around for Sienna as his tense body relaxed a little. He spotted her speaking to a relieved and emotional looking Eric not far away. Daryl presumed he had been enquiring as to Aaron's whereabouts and Daryl was glad she was filling him in quickly.

Sienna touched Eric's arm again with a warm smile, before she walked away from him and over to where Daryl was stood outside the porch to the house he had shared with his friends.

"You okay?" He asked.

She swallowed and nodded, she didn't want to show it, but he could tell she was shaken up. She had probably never experienced anything quite like the brutality of the shoot-out before.

Before they had a chance to talk anymore, Rick appeared again.

Rick was satisfied the doctor that had arrived with Daryl knew what she was talking about and he had been happy to leave her with Carl for the time being. Denise, Tara and Rosita were there in the infirmary too, and Rick knew that right now he needed to talk to Daryl.

"Lets go inside," Rick said to Daryl.

"Okay," Daryl agreed, looking back to Sienna to indicate she should come too. They walked up the steps and into the house, following Rick.

Rick turned to carefully eye the cute blonde woman with Daryl, he didn't say anything but the look on his face was enough to show he wasn't comfortable with her being there.

"It's okay, she's with me." Daryl said in a low voice, noting Rick's concerns, to Rick Sienna was a stranger.

Rick eyed her for a second more, before he nodded and his face relaxed. Daryl saying that was as good an explanation as he needed. She was probably a part of the group that had helped him somehow, the people that had now helped his people too, and from the looks of her she didn't appear to be a threat.

They wandered into the kitchen. Daryl glanced around, he had almost forgotten how big and spacious these houses were. He looked back to Rick to see he was leaning back against the worktop. The former sheriff's deputy, looked tired and stressed. Daryl hadn't noticed before how Rick's hair was starting to thin and grey, and his eyes were becoming more lined and hardened. He still had the weight of the world firmly on his shoulders.

"I can't say how great it is to see you back," Rick stressed again sincerely. A lot had happened since Daryl had been gone, and having him back felt like a huge relief to Rick. They had encountered trouble on more than one occasion and they had lost people, amongst others; Jessie and her kids, Father Gabriel, Enid and Deanna. Glenn almost too. Seeing Daryl back with them again here, meant everything to Rick. But right now he knew he needed to leave the sentiment for later and get down to business.

"But….what happened? Where have you been?" Rick questioned, his hands resting on his hips now.

Daryl's eyes instinctively slid to Sienna next to him to see her nervously chew on the inside of her cheek. Daryl knew it was on him to explain everything to Rick.

"Aaron and I ran into trouble, quite far out," Daryl started. "But we got rescued."

"He dead?" Rick asked gravely.

"Nah - He was badly injured. But he's recovering in hospital."

"In hospital, where?" Shock crossed Rick's face.

"Listen, man, what I am going to tell you is gonna be hard to believe... It took me a while to get my head around it…..But, there's a UN centre on the east coast, they have military there and aid workers. They're clearing big parts of the country of walkers, and they're trying to turn things around….Because the rest of the world... _ain't infected."_

Rick's eyes widened. "What?"

"It's hard to take in, but you have to believe me, what I am saying is the truth," He turned to Sienna. "Sienna was in England when this started, weren't ya?"

"Yeah. It's true, society in Europe hasn't collapsed. They haven't figured out why yet, but the infection seems to just be in this continent," Sienna explained.

Rick turned his attention to focus on her properly. He hadn't known her name or heard her speak before that, and he was a little surprised to hear her British accent too, just like the soldier outside. It was all a little overwhelming, but there had to be some truth in what they were saying. He looked at her some more, her blue eyes were so pretty and captivating, Rick would be lying if he said he hadn't noticed them the first minute he'd laid eyes on her, she was quite beautiful.

He turned away from her again and he started to shake his head back and forth, trying to process what they were saying. He had thought he had gone beyond speculating what the hell had happened to the world. What the virus was? How it had got into them all? Was there ever likely to be a cure? Or was it just nature in action, mankind on it's way out? The whole world gone to hell. It was their own extinction date, wasn't that what Dr Jenner had told them back at the CDC?

"Jenner said.." Rick said shakily.

Daryl glanced at Sienna again to see she had an apprehensive look on her face, neither of them could predict exactly how Rick was going to take this news. Sienna had experienced survivors that had been brought in after surviving for less time than Rick, that had completely lost it on finding out that things weren't exactly as they had seemed. But both Sienna and Daryl felt hopeful that Rick would, just like Daryl had, be able to come back.

"Jenner just said we were all infected…He didn't know any more than that," Daryl responded.

"He said he was communicating with France," Rick recalled. "That they were close to closing in on a break through, a cure. But it all went dead."

"They did close in on something...Jenner just lost all communication," Daryl explained slowly. He paused, and looked directly into Rick's eyes before he said, _"I am living proof!"_

 _"_ What?" Rick responded.

Tentatively Daryl pulled his shirt up to reveal the ugly, purplish scar in the shape of a bite mark above his hip.

"What the hell?" Rick exclaimed.

"I got bit."

Rick took a step backwards.

Daryl lowered his shirt again and said, "I'm fine now. The day they found me, I had been bit. I thought I was gonna die. But they gave me something and it stopped the bite from killing me - and I'm still here."

Rick's jaw dropped open, his wide eyes looked away from where the bite mark had been on Daryl's scarred body, back to Daryl's face and then over to Sienna's face. He put his hand up to his head.

"This thing is so much bigger than we realized," Daryl said slowly.

Rick rubbed his temple, this bombshell had been the last thing he had expected Daryl to have come out with. He sunk his teeth into his lip as he continued to process it all and analyze the facts.

"The doctor that's with Carl now, her name's Amelia, and she's some big-shot nureo surgeon believe it or not. She operated on Aaron and saved his life. She'll probably be able to help Carl too. She works out of a hospital where they have drugs and operating theatres and nursing staff around the clock."

Rick remained silent a heavy expression crawling across his face. His kids had to be his number one priority. Carl was his boy, if there was a way someone could help him…..

"You've got to listen to me, man..Because we haven't got much time," Daryl expressed urgently now. "We need to get everyone out of here and back there. Before it's too late."

Rick's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"There is a mega herd heading this way, it will be here within the week. It was picked up on a satellite image by the military. I saw it with my own eyes. That is the only reason I was able to get back here. This area is barricaded off. It's seen as too dangerous to allow access to. The only reason we could come back was to evacuate everyone," Daryl spoke slowly and clearly, realizing Rick needed time to wrap his head around everything he was saying. Rick was level-headed and logical when it came to making decisions, but he needed all the facts.

"I dunno, Daryl. This is our home, we've worked hard for it," Rick responded. "I can't just make everyone leave again."

"Pretty soon, there won't be anywhere to leave," Daryl said gravely, trying to reinforce the seriousness of the situation to his friend and former leader. He had to persuade him to make the right call.

"We've fought herds before," Rick said.

"Not like this one. We wouldn't stand a chance," Daryl responded, putting his hand up to brush at the hair in his eyes.

Rick face twisted and a line appeared between his brows. He trusted Daryl with his life, with his children's lives, if he was saying they needed to do this then he had to have faith in him.

"Okay.…I'll need to speak to everyone, give them a chance to get their heads around it too. It will be dark soon, so if everyone is in agreement. We'll head off first thing in the morning."

...

"Head off where first thing in the morning?" They turned to see Carol walking in to the room to join them, her eyes narrowing suspiciously, she was followed closely by Michonne and Glenn.

Carol straight away looked towards Daryl giving him a curious glance, and he felt a pang of emotion to see her. A mixture of happiness and relief that she was alright, and also a slight guilt that he hadn't actually said anything to her yet. Carol was one of the most important people in the world to him - and he had just vanished for the past couple of months, which he knew would have caused her deep concern and worry. Now he was back, he knew he had some explaining to do.

"What's going on? They're starting to ask questions out there. Those soldiers have said there is an international military base up and running on the east coast?" Michonne spoke up, looking from Rick to Daryl.

"We need to have a meeting," Rick said, putting his palms together and holding them to his mouth.

"Yes, we do," Michonne responded firmly.

Carol's eyes returned to Daryl and then to the mysterious blonde that was stood next to him, "Alone." She snapped coldly.

Daryl looked at the expression on Carol's face, he knew she wasn't as easy to trust as Rick had been, it took her a long time to be able to do that. It had just been their tight knit group for a long time and she was wary of anyone outside of that. He knew she wouldn't back down now about them talking alone, and he owed her that.

He turned back to face Sienna, his eyes softening for her. "Just give us a minute, okay," he said in a quiet voice, touching her arm.

Her unquestioning blue eyes looked back at him with an unspoken communication, letting him know it was cool with her. "Fine," she smiled.

Carol looked back to Rick, to see his back was turned to them slightly and he was already locked into a conversation with Michonne and Glenn. They hadn't noticed it, but Carol had. The way as he'd spoken to her, Daryl had subtly touched the blonde's hand gently, giving it a few strokes and leaving it there for longer than would be usually appropriate, seeming almost reluctant to release his touch as he took it away. It was just a small thing, but it was a surprisingly un-Daryl like gesture and that together with the look he had given his new companion, told Carol that as un-likely as it might seem from what she knew of Daryl - but it appeared that her gruff and quiet, redneck friend had ' _something'_ going on with the attractive blonde.

Carol's lips pressed into a hard line as she observed Daryl some more as the blonde left the room. She wasn't quite sure what she thought about discovering he had seemingly gotten intimate with someone.

She knew she could possibly be wrong about it, this was Daryl after all. He was one of the last people she would have expected to have returned with a hot-looking woman in tow. So they could quite genuinely just be friends, Daryl could be a big softie when it came to people that actually gave him a chance. But Carol's gut was telling her that wasn't the case here. That there was more to it than that. It was also telling her to be wary, she loved Daryl and she wanted to make sure that whatever he had gotten himself into now, he was doing it for the right reasons. Carol remembered how she had felt when she'd found out that Andrea had got involved with the governor. She doubted this was anything like that, but Carol wanted to be sure just the same - for all their sakes.

….

With Sienna gone, Daryl turned his attention back to his core group members.

"What they told you out there. It's true. All of it," he said, his voice deep and serious.

All eyes were focused on Daryl. He seemed different somehow. He held his head almost a little higher and his body language had subtly changed, he seemed a little more open and less defensive. "Aaron is alive and recovering in a military hospital attached to a refugee centre. I've been working there after they helped me too."

"How did they help you?" Glenn spoke for the first time. His eyes bore a worried expression.

Daryl looked at him reflectively before answering, "They healed my bite."

He studied all three of them - Glenn, Carol and Michonne, to gauge their reaction to his shocking revelation.

They all stood motionless for a second, before they looked to Rick for confirmation - Had Daryl gone crazy?

"He's not lying," Rick said.

Rick knew it sounded unbelievable, but this was Daryl, he was one of them. Loyal and dependable until the end. They shouldn't be second guessing his story. He wouldn't lie to them.

"Okay, so if they can do that, what else can they do?" Carol asked, her tone was still skeptical.

Daryl swallowed almost painfully, where the hell did he even start, "This aint what you're thinking, it's not just some rival community out there. The rest of the world wasn't hit like we were. They're sending in supplies and aid, they're trying to fight back….They have food, gas, medicines, hospitals - they're setting up schools and public services…I've seen it all with my own eyes!"

"Seriously?" Michonne said, breaking into a small grin, her eyes suddenly glistening with unshed tears, "There's hope out there?" She looked to Rick, grinning even wider. If anyone else had come back and said that Michonne would have been suspicious, but not Daryl. It sounded too good to be true, but she felt in her heart maybe it wasn't.

Daryl paused, a small smile playing on his lips too at Michonne's heartfelt reaction, she believed in him, just like Rick did. "This area here is one of the 'infected' zones, it's not safe. I fought to get back here to tell you that, and to get you back to a place where you can be safe."

" _This_ is our home," Carol spoke up quietly, glancing at Glenn to check his take on it. "We have worked _so_ hard to defend it."

"We can't stay here. There's another herd on the way," Rick explained, exchanging a look with Daryl.

"We can't risk it, leaving again, not now," Carol responded, her lip trembling with the fear of the un-known and going back out there again.

 _"If,_ there really are hospitals there, and food supplies and protection, we can't risk _not_ going," Glenn spoke up. "Haven't we been through enough?"

Carol bit down on her trembling lip, slowly nodding her head. She couldn't deny that Daryl looked to be living proof that wherever he had been, whatever he had been doing, had to have been a better bet than life constantly watching their backs at their little, seemingly safe community here had been.

"Listen, I don't like the idea of hitting the road again, of leaving what we have here either. But Daryl wouldn't say we had to, unless he was really certain." Rick spoke up firmly, looking to Daryl to exchange another look as Daryl nodded his head in return. "Carl might be able to get proper help there."

Carol nodded some more, and her eyes shone with tears as she squeezed them shut and took a step towards Daryl to finally give in and throw her arms around his neck, breathing out into his strong shoulders. "I believe you," she said as she released her grip and stepped back again, to see emotion reflected back in his eyes too.

Carol's features softened some more as she looked over to take in the pain in Rick's eyes too. They had all been so worried about Carl, and she knew would never doubt Daryl. She would go along with whatever he and Rick thought best. But her eyes and ears would be firmly open to _everything_ that was going on. If there was any kind of threat to their safety and well-being she would act.

"Tonight we rest and gather our belongings. Then tomorrow, we leave first thing," Rick said decisively.

Daryl nodded his head in relief, he knew they were doing the right thing.

...

 **A/N - Thanks for reading and reviewing everyone it means so much and the reviews really pushed me to get this chapter out. There is a lot more story to come too! They are by no means safe yet! :)**


	26. TWENTY SIX

_**A** **/N - Thanks for the reviews to my last chapter. I had a real dilemma with this chapter. I have the whole story planned out in my head but wasn't sure whether to tweak this chapter a little to create more drama and tension! In the end I just decided to just go with the original version; and save the drama for the next few chapters.**_

 _ **In response to celia azul I hadn't put an exact ago on Sienna, but I guess I see her as being a good 10+ years younger than Daryl as his TWD wiki lists him as being early to mid 40's! So I guess pushing the 30 mark.**_

 _ **Snowfur09 Thanks for your comments, I really appreciate having things pointed out that might be confusing to the reader! I think here it is just a case of the sentence was a little clumsy and I have gone back and edited it to hopefully clear that up. It should read that the east coast, from New Jersey up to Maine (I see the states south of this as still being infected), barring the major cities is in green. Then the west coast, California up to Oregon, barring the major cities too is also in green. Hope that's a bit clearer, although still not worded the best!**_

* * *

"Sorry to interrupt." All eyes looked up to see Tara walking into the kitchen where Daryl had been meeting with Rick, Carol, Glenn and Michonne to discuss their urgent plans to abandon Alexandria and return to the military base and refugee centre.

Tara was holding baby Judith and her face looked a little apprehensive as her eyes fell to Rick.

Daryl looked at Judith in her arms, it was amazing how much 'ass-kicker' had changed just in the few months he had been away. She was really starting to look like Lori now, which made him happy.

"The doctor wants to speak to you," Tara said to Rick. "She's with Denise and Carl at the moment."

"Right," Rick replied seriously. "We're done here. I'll need to call a meeting with everyone." He put his hand up to his head. He knew he had a duty to explain the situation and it couldn't wait. By now rumours would be running rife. There weren't that many people left here in their small survival town - two 'wolf' attacks and a mega herd had wiped out a lot of the original Alexandrian's, including their original leader, Deanna. But out of the core group Rick had arrived with, apart from Father Gabriel, everyone had so far managed to defend themselves still, and they were tighter than ever. Rick knew he owed them the truth about the circumstances surrounding Daryl's return and his decision to therefore abandon their home here at Alexandria.

"It's urgent, Rick," Tara insisted. Moving across to hand Judith over to Carol.

"We can get everyone together to explain things," Glenn said in response to Rick's strained expression, and he looked to Daryl for confirmation.

Daryl responded to Glenn with a quick nod of the head. He looked back to Rick, who seeming satisfied they had it under control, turned to leave the room with Tara.

"I'll need to sort Judith out," Carol said looking at Glenn. "I should make you something to eat too," she added, addressing Daryl.

Before Daryl had the chance to protest, Glenn and Michonne had already left the room to start grouping everyone together, and his rumbling stomach reminded him that he did need to eat. Daryl knew there was a good chance by now that everyone would be aware of where he had been, and Glenn would need to break it to them that Rick's decision was to leave here to travel back there again with him and his new people.

He looked back to Carol, he could tell by his friends body language that she still wasn't entirely comfortable with the decision. Just like him, Carol was damaged and she had been through too much to let her walls down easily. At this point she could only think in terms of survival and Daryl respected that.

He took a step towards her and Judith and he held his finger out to touch the little girl's hand. She looked at him curiously for a second, before she broke into a shy dimpled grin.

"She remembers you," Carol said, smiling too. "Here," she said holding the infant out for him to hold.

Daryl was quick to take her into his strong arms, it had been a while since he'd had the chance to hold Rick's baby daughter, he'd forgotten how good it felt to smell the top of her soft baby hair, and to hold her warm little body against his chest. "Hello sweetheart, you been looking after your daddy while I've been gone?" He asked in a gentle, soothing voice, that came out only around her. Judith made a sound and eyed him with interest as he continued to speak to her quietly, making her giggle, while Carol turned her back to them to fix him some casserole.

"You look tired," Carol said to Daryl, placing the bowl down in front of him and reaching to take Judith back, as Rick's daughter held out her chubby little arms in response. "Your old rooms still up there." Carol gestured with her head, her green eyes twinkling now. "We haven't moved a thing."

"Thanks," Daryl mumbled. He felt touched and a tad awkward both at the same time. He had known his friends wouldn't have given up on him that quickly. He was one of them and they would have held out hope for a lot longer that he would had returned. Leaving his room be, had probably been Carol's doing. Her way of saying she believed he would come back. But Daryl couldn't help but also feel a little awkward that he hadn't really missed sleeping in it. Not when he'd had an equally comfortable bed elsewhere.

Judith started to cry and Carol patted her back. "I should go and settle her down upstairs." She made a calming sound in Judith's ear and stroked her hair. "She's tired."

Daryl nodded, he wanted to catch up with Carol properly, but he could tell now wasn't the right time. He watched as she wandered out the room to leave him alone. He could hear voices coming from the other room. He imagined Michonne and Glenn had gathered people together to go over the situation and their plans. He knew he should go in and join them too, but at that moment he couldn't quite face it. He just craved a moment alone first.

* * *

"So what are you saying exactly?" Rick asked, stood in front of Amelia, his forehead creased with worry. "You _can_ help him?"

"With the swelling on the upper lid, it's impossible to assess the damage properly, he would need to be put under a general anaesthetic before we could tell precisely what needs to be done, whether the laceration from the bullet has effected the cornea and his sight and how badly. It's serious, and I'm not an ophthalmologist, I'm a nureo- surgeon, it's not my speciality. I can do it. But if there is any chance of saving his eye, we need to get him back to the hospital where I can operate safely. He'll need stronger antibiotics soon too."

Amelia stopped talking. She was never one to bull-shit people. She enjoyed a challenge and she wanted to help this kid. Hopefully with the right equipment she could. Hopefully.

Rick started intensely at the woman in front of him, her words swimming around in his brain. Was there really a chance she could help his boy? He had only just met her. But he trusted her, because Daryl did. Daryl had said she was a respected surgeon, and right now, she did seem to know what she was talking about. So, if there was even the slightest possibility she could help his son, Rick would take it. Up until now, they had only been able to think as far as keeping Carl alive and the infection at bay. But she was saying she might actually be able to save his eye and his sight. That would simply be incredible!

"Dad," Carl spoke up from where he was lying in the bed with his eye bandaged up, his voice was weak and croaky and Rick hated seeing him like this, so scared and vulnerable.

"It's going to be okay, son," Rick said gently, patting Carl's shoulder. "Rest now. Tomorrow we're taking you to a proper hospital." As the words came out of his mouth Rick realized how ludicrous they actually sounded. There were no 'proper' hospitals anymore, no civilised society of any kind. Wasn't that what they'd all had to slowly come to terms with over the past nearly two years?

 _Could Rick really allow himself to believe that there could be an end to their suffering in sight?_

Rick knew that Daryl wouldn't say anything unless it was the real deal. Daryl had grown as hardened and cynical by their experiences as the rest of them. They had become so adept at surviving for themselves. They had done the unspeakable to defend each other and now their new home, here at Alexandra. Rick knew he could never return to the guy he had been before. _Could he?_

* * *

Daryl was perched down by the windowsill quietly to the side of Glenn and Michonne. All of his old group, apart from Rick, Carol and Carl were in there - along with Spencer and a couple of the few original Alexandrians that were left. The numbers had reduced significantly since Daryl had last been here. But thankfully everyone that had arrived here from the prison days was still alive.

Sienna was sat on one of the sofa's next to Sam and Kyle. She looked a little awkward as all eyes in the room seemed to be drawn to them. Everyone seemed fascinated with the people that had arrived back here with Daryl. Sam in contrast to Sienna, seemed to be enjoying all the attention and now that Glenn had finished talking, Sam had been busy answering all their questions. He had an air of confidence about him that showed he was happy being centre of attention.

"You're from England? I studied over in London for a year, had an amazing time," Spencer spoke up with a charming smile, his gaze fixed only on Sienna.

Daryl could tell Sienna was feeling a little uncomfortable as he watched her through the long hair falling into his eyes. Her cheeks had a tinge of pink and her eyelashes blinked as she broke into a shy smile. Daryl could also tell exactly what Spencer was thinking, the younger guy had barely been able to take his eyes off her, ever since he had joined them. There was a definite interest there that went beyond a friendly curiosity.

"Oh, really," she replied politely. "Yeah, we came over with the military as soon as they allowed the media to travel again."

"We've come over to save your asses," Sam said loudly with a cocky smirk.

From where he was sat beside him, Kyle raised a brow as Daryl said gruffly with an amused undertone, "That right pretty boy," and Daryl smirked too, as Sam just held up his hands. Daryl knew Sam had a big mouth, but he wasn't a bad person. He'd accepted Daryl straight away and he had put himself in danger to come back here to Alexandria too, when he hadn't to.

"So, you journalists still have an internet connection?" Glenn asked this time with genuine curiosity. His question sounded impossible. Internet and telecommunications were part of their old world, not their new one. But, maybe, deep down, they had all just been clinging on for the day that something like this would happen out of the blue, and they could all go back to how things had been before.

"Yeah, but it's not like it was. It's much more basic," Sienna replied.

"You can get online if you know the right people, but sorry guys, I don't think your Facebook accounts will still be up," Sam joked, averting all attention back to him. "But when we get back there, you can certainly check out some of my short films about the apocalypse."

Sienna rolled her eyes, she could tell that was really the last thing on these people's minds. But from the amused faces around her she could also tell that perhaps they needed to make a little light of the world again after everything they had been through. Her gaze shifted over to Daryl again and both their blue eyes met briefly. They had barely had the chance to say anything to each other now they were back. He had been understandably busy making plans, and now he looked tired and not in the mood for small talk. His head had been down as he had been munching on some food, he had just listened to their conversation, only speaking up every now and again to grunt the occasional comment or answer a question.

"So, who do you work for, a publication?" Spencer asked, again focusing in directly on Sienna. His eyes filling with something Daryl instantly recognised as sexual attraction now. And a hot stab of jealousy caught Daryl off guard. He knew no-one in his group would be aware of how involved he was with Sienna - the mysterious and beautiful blonde, part of the new people he had turned up with earlier that day. Daryl had tried to casually make it obvious to Rick, but he knew he hadn't done the best job, he wasn't the best with words or actions, and Rick had seemed pretty pre-occupied with everything else to have given it a second thought. Daryl had never exactly been a ladies man, so Rick had probably just naturally assumed he and Sienna had simply formed a friendship. It wouldn't have crossed his mind that they would have been sleeping together.

Looking at Spencer now it bothered Daryl that he ogled Sienna, although as gorgeous as she was, he should expect it. Especially from Spencer who was young, handsome and confident. Someone probably far better suited to Sienna than he was, the insecure side of Daryl thought. He gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes, hiding behind his hair, and Daryl half hoped Sam would open that big mouth of his again to make some kind of reference to Sienna's involvement with him - just to get it out there.

Instead Sienna replied politely to Spencer's question, "I just work for a small media outlet we sell into several publications." Daryl eyed her carefully, she was wearing a tight black tank top, one he particularly liked. She turned to flash her pretty eyes over in his direction again, while biting her lower lip and smiling. Daryl couldn't help but smile a little back.

"She's just being modest. Her work is great," Sam interrupted, seeming to only spark Spencer's interest more.

The room fell silent for a moment, the group conversation coming to a close.

Glenn and Maggie stood up first to make their way back to their own house for their final night here. Glenn looked to Daryl to exchange a look to indicate everything was good for now as he and Maggie left.

Following them, Abraham, Rosita and Eugene stood up too. "Good to have you back with us," Abraham said, shaking Daryl's hand firmly as Rosita smiled a little awkwardly at Sienna, Sam, Louie and Kyle. Behind her, Eugene stepped forward to open his mouth and blurt out, "It's good to have you folks here... We haven't see people as smart looking as y'all for a good while, and you might just be the most attractive person I have ever met." He said with a straight face as his eyes bore into Sienna, and she smiled warmly back at him, feeling a little lost for anything to say in return.

"Well, night then folks," Abraham interrupted loudly, breaking the tense moment.

…

With fewer people in the room the atmosphere relaxed a little. Strangers were never accepted straight away, but Daryl's group had seemed slightly more willing to take to the people he had returned with on this occasion. Sienna and the others had certainly taken them by surprize, but they also represented a little glimmer of hope that things out there could get better. Daryl was glad he had given them that, and he felt full of relief that he had finally made it back to them at last.

….

Glancing around, Sienna's stomach went into a nervous flutter, she was good at putting on a front, a brave face when she needed to. She had done her best to appear smooth and collected here, but inside she was a web of insecurities. Daryl came from a group of people that were connected at the most basic level, they had formed an un-breakable bond. It wasn't like her friendships since the outbreak, they both cared about and looked out for each other- but they hadn't had to kill for each other, they hadn't had to wake each day wondering which one of them might be gone before nightfall. She couldn't contemplate what these people had lived through. What they would still be willing to do for each other.

...

Daryl moved in a little closer to the group, edging closer to where Sienna was sat he still kept a small distance as his lined eyes rested on her.

She wondered what he was thinking. Whether he wanted to cool things a little between them, now there were more serious and pressing issues at stake. She wouldn't blame him if he did. She knew he cared about what these people thought. She did too. He wouldn't want them to think he had stayed away due to some impulsive romance. Even though she knew what had happened, was far from that.

Right now, everyone seemed to be winding down for the night. Maggie had shown Sienna and the others the empty houses that Sienna's group and the soldiers could crash in for the night. But Sienna hadn't had the chance to ask Daryl what he would be doing. She figured it would possibly be best for him to stay with his friends, whilst she went with hers.

"Sounds like Judith's gone to sleep, she must be a little unsettled," Michonne commented in the now quiet room. The infant had been crying on and off for the past hour and Carol had been up with her trying to sooth her off to sleep.

"Sounds like she's got the right idea, I'm heading to bed too," Spencer piped up. His eyes once again falling on Sienna. "Let me know if you need anything," he added, flashing another smooth smile in her direction.

Daryl was unable to stop the deep scowl appearing on his lips. If he was honest he'd never liked Spencer all that much, it was the same crap all over again - good-looking, rich guy, knowing how to talk-the-talk to impress people. Except here Rick had never fallen for it and neither had Daryl.

Though to be fair, again Daryl remembered that Spencer wasn't aware of the type of relationship he had with Sienna, yet. Daryl shifted a little closer to her and subtly tapped her ankle. "You tired?" He asked quietly. Sam, Louie and Kyle were busy chatting with Michonne, Sasha and Spencer again and everyone else had now left.

Sienna gave him a quick nod of her blonde head. A smile flickering in her eyes just for him, and Daryl was sucked in by it. "Come on, I'll show you up," he said in his deep, gravelly voice, gesturing with his head towards the door.

* * *

"So, this is where the other half live," Sienna joked as they made their way up the stairs and across the landing of the stylish and spacious house. Daryl had really played down how nice the properties were here in Alexandria.

He remained straight-faced as he led her into the room he had finally claimed as his own, after some persuading from Carol.

Sienna looked around the room, the double bed at the centre looked big and comfortable with a large colourful print of a red sunset hanging over it. There was a built in wardrobe running along one wall, along with a vanity table and chair, more drawers and a big mirror on the wall to the other side of the bed. Someone with good taste in interiors had worked hard. It wasn't what she had expected at all.

With his hands resting on his hips, Daryl took in her cute smirk as she looked around. Carol hadn't been lying when she had said she had left his room the same. It looked as though she had made his bed, for which right now he was grateful, but Carol had left the crumpled maps he had been studying on the floor, along with a few of his other discarded belongings - some of his dirty and creased clothes, a spare pair of boots he had picked up, some arrows and a couple of books that Aaron had leant him.

"Wow, nice room," Sienna remarked further, her blue eyes widening as she took it all in. She could tell it had been his room by the few things scattered around, she had come to learn Daryl wasn't the tidiest. But then neither was she, so they suited each other perfectly.

"S'alright I suppose," he shrugged with a hint of embarrassment. He'd have been just as happy in one of the smaller ones or on the sofa.

"1984, good choice," she said sounding impressed as she arched a brow and picked up one of the books on the floor by his bed.

"I aint really started it yet, it was Aaron's," he confessed. Daryl had taken it with the intention of reading it but he had never found any motivation to do so.

He walked over to the bed to flop on it and lie back with his eyes closed, shutting everything out for a moment. "Don't think I ever wanna get up," he mumbled opening his eyes to see her stood over him. He sat back up and grabbed her hand to pull her down beside him. Allowing his eyes to rest on her face.

Sienna blushed a little under his intense gaze, now that they were finally alone, "This place, Daryl, it's not what I expected, these people have made a real life here," she said, her tone serious.

"Aint real," he responded, letting out a long breath. "Y'know that…..All this, it was nice to dream for a bit…..but…" He broke off, putting his hand up to run through his long scraggly hair. They'd never really been able to relax here, there had always been some drama or dangerous situation to have to deal with.

"I know," she agreed, breaking the silence. "But, jeez, I can think of worse places to sit out the end of the world and dream," she joked again. The truth being she was still shocked at the small idealistic town they had discovered. Fully functioning with a group that appeared to still have their humanity and morals somehow intact.

"If things had been different," she started hesitantly. "Would you have wanted to stay here?"

He averted her gaze and put his hand up to stroke his beard. He was almost glad with the situation that had un-folded. The path of the deadly, mega herd, had meant that there was no debate to be had about staying here. But, if there had have been - what would he have done? He knew he would have had to have sacrificed something, or someone. Would he have stayed, or would he have left everyone to start a new life away from here? Could he have left the others behind if they had insisted on staying? Being with Sienna had made him truly happy for the first time ever, all the things she did to him and made him feel. He hadn't thought he would ever find anyone that truly 'got him', like she did. But, seeing Rick, Carol and the others had reinforced to Daryl what they meant to him too. Could he have abandoned that and the past couple of years?

Sienna could see the haunted look start to appear in his eyes again as he turned back to look at her and he tried to explain, "I've never been part of anything before them. Not anything good anyway. My life was shit before…...Then they accepted me. I'm one of em.."

Slowly she took his face in her hands moving her eyes over him as if she was reading. Her palms were warm and they comforted Daryl. He looked back at the strange, beautiful woman sat here with him in the room he'd only ever spent any real time in alone before. He knew he was slowly starting to come un-done with her. She was making him 'let her in' more and more each day - in a way he had never thought would be possible for him.

"Would you?" He asked, his eyes softening knowing in some way he was testing her now, "Would ya stay here in this place, if things were different?"

"Depends," she simply replied, blinking to flutter her lashes as they looked at each other.

Daryl put his thumb under her chin to gently draw her closer to his face. He was done talking now, as he quickly moved his mouth in to hers, connecting their lips together to kiss her with confidence as he ran his fingers over her jaw and his hair fell against her cheek. He wanted to show her even though he was back amongst his people, he still cared about her, he still wanted and needed her. Now they were alone, he had the chance to do that properly. He could open up to her again fully. He pushed her back on the bed, increasing the pressure of his lips. He hadn't intended on this happening here, but on some basic level he knew he needed it. He needed her. To feel their connection physically, to release himself inside her. He wasn't the same lonely, grieving person he had been the last time he had slept in this room, desperately trying to cling on to anything in order to stay alive. Now that he had Sienna he was different, she seemed to reach him deeper than anyone else had, not allowing him to retreat when stuff got personal or intimate.

He wanted to remain the person he had become with her.

He broke the kiss to place his mouth on her neck, he could tell by her body language she was a little apprehensive about doing this here, but he wasn't. He hadn't wanted her to go with Sam and the others without him to one of the empty houses for the night, and he knew it wouldn't have been right for him to have accompanied her there either, and not to have stayed here in his old house with his friends.

He continued to kiss her neck and she didn't object, his breath hot against her tingling skin. She reached up to tangle her fingers through his long hair and her eyes fluttered shut. Sienna hadn't been expecting this, she had half wondered whether Daryl would have distanced himself again a little until his group were back to safety, and she would have had to wait to be with him again like this. But she was pleasantly surprised that he seemed to have gone the other way. She felt the hard lump of his erection straining against his jeans, pressing into her as he pushed his body against her even more. She smiled to herself, and a euphoric rush hit her that he still wanted her just as much in that way.

She curled her hand over his stubbly cheek and lifted his head up for another rough kiss. Her other hand quickly moved underneath his shirt to trail her fingers over his back. He didn't even flinch now when she touched his scars, and to her it was as though they weren't even there, all she felt was his ripped muscles moving under her fingertips. She pushed her groin up to increase the pressure between them.

Daryl cursed deeply into her mouth as her felt an uncontrollable heat firing up inside him again. _'She'_ did that to him. "You're killing me woman," he groaned, breaking the kiss once again, to tug her top over her head, fumbling to undo the clasp to her bra. He knew anyone could potentially interrupt them at any point, there was no lock to his bedroom door. But that wasn't going to stop him now, nothing was. He was full of arousal and lust. The fire she had ignited in him, was burning now stronger than ever.

He threw her bra to the floor, both their jeans and underwear quickly following. Daryl's hands were all over Sienna's body, touching her everywhere, inching up her inner thigh to find her wetness, all for him. He teased his fingers over her making her moan, and his eyes dark with lust watched her reaction carefully as he touched her, and he became overcome with a wild animalistic desire. Unable to hold back anymore, he re-positioned himself to push his painfully hard penis inside her. She let out an instant moan at the deep burn of the sensation as he took full control and started to thrust into her in a steady, strong rhythm, faster and faster.

Daryl tried his hardest to hold back his gruff groans of intense pleasure, muffling them into the side of Sienna's face. He knew they weren't alone in the house and they could quite possibly be over-heard. Daryl also knew despite how quiet they were trying to be, the squeaking of the bedsprings and banging of the head-board would still give them away if nothing else. Both, Rick and the kids, and Carol, had their rooms positioned to the other end of the house so the sound probably wouldn't travel that far, but Michonne's rooms was right next to his and she had jokingly complained on more than one occasion about his snoring keeping her awake at night, so if the other's couldn't hear him, there was a good chance she still would be able to.

But that didn't faze Daryl.

Sienna moved her long legs up to wrap around his waist as he pressed his forehead against hers so he could look at her eyes, her pupils were dilating as he slammed himself inside her. His body having been un-touched for so long before he had found her, was still so responsive to the feel of her, of being inside her and having her soft skin against his rougher skin. She made him come alive, and right now a primal urge seemed to over-take him as he thrust himself into her even deeper and harder. It was as though he had no control of his body, his heart beating furiously out of his chest. It had been a while since they had done this. He desperately needed it. In that moment he couldn't see, he couldn't think, all he could do was concentrate on the almost unbearable pleasure as he moved as fast and hard as he could. His hands gripped her hips roughly as he bit down on the sensitive skin at the side of her neck. She suddenly let out a noise between a sigh and a scream and he could feel her tightening around him as he felt his own indescribable sensation building and he buried his sweaty face into her hair, stifling his deep growl as his powerful release shot through him, making his whole body shudder.

Panting for breath, the pleasure receding, Daryl rolled over to lie beside her. Feeling completely satisfied now, and more relaxed than he had done in a while, he reached for her hand and moved his hair away from his eyes to look at her. She looked serious and thoughtful. He wondered if he had been too rough with her, he had gotten a little carried away. "You okay?" he asked.

She nodded, but didn't answer.

"If I was too…..I'm sorry…...just needed that…y'know…" Daryl mumbled awkwardly, his dark blue eyes awash with concern all of a sudden.

She turned to him and smiled. "You weren't….…it's just that….." she paused.

"Just what?"

She bit down on her lip as she peered at him through her long lashes. A slight crimson crept up her flushed cheeks, as her eyes lit up and she replied, "It's just…I don't think I've ever _come_ like that before."

Daryl's features relaxed and a proud grin appeared on his face. A that moment he felt like could fly. A warm glow spread inside him as he stretched his arm out to draw her in even closer to him, allowing her to rest her head against the soft hairs on his chest. The world might be flooded with darkness still, there was danger everywhere, and who knew what the next - day, week, month - was going to bring. But with Sienna, Daryl felt safe, as though maybe he could handle anything now.

He planted a small kiss on her hair, he hadn't forgotten she had told him she loved him not so long ago. No-one had ever said that to him before, and slowly he was starting to believe her. He wanted to say it too, because he knew she meant something pretty fucking special to him. But, was he really capable of love? Did he even know what that meant? His feelings for her were so intense, like nothing he had ever experienced before. He ran his thumb along the curve of her hip, clearing his throat to get up the courage to speak, he looked down to see her eyes had suddenly closed. Fully satiated, her body had become limp in his arms and he realised at that moment she had become dead to the world, shutting herself down to sleep. He swallowed, and he kept his thoughts to himself still. Saving them for another time.

In the faint distance he could make out the sound of Judith starting to cry again. Reminding him that they were back at Alexandria. He knew he _had_ to make sure the baby got to safety. He also knew that he needed to rest now too, because the next day he had one hell of a job to do.

 _ **A/N - There, so a little sweetness for Daryl and Sienna at the end there. There will be more of the other TWD characters coming. After Daryl my favourite characters are Rick, Carol and Michonne so more of them. Just a little spoiler too, there will be a spanner in the works for Daryl and Sienna and he will be torn between her and a certain person (not romantically)!**_


	27. TWENTY SEVEN

**_New year and new chapter! I hope everyone had a great holiday :) And are still invested in my Daryl/Sienna bubble and ready for more. This new chapter features some TWD fav's so I hope you enjoy! Happy New Year!_**

* * *

The room was still dark as Sienna sensed Daryl moving next to her in the bed. She turned to try and make out his shadowy form. "Y'alright?" He muttered gruffly looking at her in the darkness, from where she was lying in front of him.

"Mmm..hmm," she mumbled, remembering where she was. She hadn't been dreaming, she was now amongst Daryl's people. It was a strange place, part of it felt like blissful harmony, with the nice houses and streets and sense of community - a stark contrast to the endless, devastation of the torn down streets and sad, empty houses she had witnessed since the start of the apocalypse. But even lying next to Daryl, listening to his comforting heavy breathing and inhaling his strong masculine scent, Sienna didn't feel safe here.

She felt on edge, like something wasn't right.

As if tuning in to her anxiety, Daryl reached out to touch her warm side. "Best get up," he said in a more gentle tone.

"Yeah," she replied quietly.

"What's up?" He asked again as she shuffled closer to him in the bed. Part of her wished they could just stay here like this forever.

But Sienna knew that they had to face reality. "Nothing really, I've just got a weird feeling, like somethings going to happen, you know?"

Daryl opened his sleepy eyes fully as his intense pupils searched her dimly lit face. Talk like that, made him uneasy at the best of times. He gave her hip a firm but affectionate squeeze. "Summat always happens princess, aint nothin new, it will be okay," he said matter of factly.

"Yeah, you're right. It will be okay. Let's just get everyone away from here as soon as we can," she responded. They could read each other well now. She knew he was trying to play down her fears and he knew she was trying to say things exactly how she saw them.

* * *

Sienna dabbed at the ends of her freshly washed hair with a towel. The bathroom in Daryl's house here at Alexandria was equally as nice as the rest of it, and after a quick shower and change of clothes she felt fresher and more energised to face the challenges ahead. She rubbed some moisturiser into her face, added a slick of lip balm to her lips, and opened the door to make her way back to Daryl's room to gather her belongings. Daryl was already up and busy making arrangements with Rick, Trent and the others.

She quickly grabbed her stuff and made her way downstairs to the empty kitchen to search for something to drink, before she headed out to re-group with the others. She had agreed to check with Amelia what needed to be done with the wounded, and then help move things on to the truck and cars they'd be taking with them on their journey back.

As she fumbled around for anything that could resemble a coffee machine, Sienna's head seemed to be all over the place. She was mentally going over what needed to be done, in-between spontaneous flash-backs to the near-perfect sex, Daryl had surprised her with the night before, the throbbing between her legs from the slight bruising he had left reminding her of exactly where he had been, making her smile a little giddily and blush to herself. Their situation might be bleak, but she still couldn't help but feel on a high when she thought of the sweet-but-gruff guy she had fallen for so hard, and the way he was with her when no-one else was around.

...

She cursed a little under her breath as she tried to get to grips with the foreign coffee machine and re-focus, they had power here so it couldn't be that difficult to start it up, her long hair swept over her eye as head down she finally got it to work. The coffee she had brought with her was out of date and smelled a little weird but she was eternally grateful to have gotten her hands on it and she had made sure to stash some in her backpack before they had left two days ago. Pouring some into a cup, she heard footsteps entering the kitchen. She looked up to see Carol stood behind her, and Sienna gave her a nervous smile.

The two women hadn't really spoken yet, but Sienna know who she was. Daryl hadn't exactly come out and said it because that wasn't his style, but Sienna had been able to tell that he and Carol were close from the way he had talked about her.

"Would you like some coffee? I brought some with me," Sienna asked, still smiling. "I need a caffeine hit in the morning," she added with an awkward laugh. Realising she had probably said the wrong thing as Carol just looked back at her with a straight face.

….

"I'm fine thanks," Carol replied.

Carol took a moment to look at the woman in front of her. It was the first time she had heard her speak, she had a nice voice, soft and clear. She looked slightly different this morning too. Her long, thick blonde hair was falling loosely down her back and around her shoulders, and it looked freshly washed giving off a waft of something sweet and fruity. Carol couldn't deny that she both looked and smelled lovely. She reminded Carol of how people had been before the outbreak. She had a brightness to her face that seemed lost in most of them now. It was apparent that she really had come from a place less effected. A place with less darkness.

But that being so, there was still something about her that Carol wasn't sure about. A vibe she got, that the blonde woman represented a drastic change, for all of them - Carol wasn't big on change. It made her anxious and unsettled. She had found a strange comfort from how things had fallen into place with her new and close, survival family. Daryl, Rick and the kids, Maggie, Glenn…going someplace new and big would end all of that. Maybe that would turn out to be a good thing, maybe it wouldn't?

Carol moved past Sienna to quickly empty the cupboard stocked full of full water bottles, she scooped them up and into her arms as she remained silent. She wasn't meaning to be purposefully rude, but she had never been one for small talk with strangers, especially when they made her feel a little uncomfortable like this one did. It had taken Carol a while to open up fully to Lori and Andrea even, back at the start when they had all been camping together at the quarry. She had never made female friends easily and she was now, more than ever, reluctant to trust people.

Despite her reservations though, Carol forced a small smile at Sienna, and left the kitchen.

…..

Alone in the kitchen again, Sienna put her coffee cup to her lips to sip whilst pondering the other woman. Carol had been a little abrupt, defensive even, and it reminded Sienna of her first few exchanges with Daryl. He and Carol clearly didn't let people in easily, and to Carol, right now, she was a stranger, and it was clear that Carol's exchanges with a lot of strangers in these times had not been good, making her more hardened to accepting new people. Sienna couldn't blame her for acting the way she did.

Putting her cup down, Sienna reached into her back pocket for a hair tie, and pulled her hair back into a pony tail, before she quickly put on her jacket to step outside and get moving too.

* * *

Rick left the medical building with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Having carried out the final few checks and satisfied they were now nearly ready to abandon their comfortable, reasonably safe home, he took in a long, deep breath resting his hands on his hips. Were they really doing the right thing? Or had he lost his mind again?

Relying on his former police skills and survival tactics, Rick had evolved into a battle-hardened survivor who would protect his family without question, ready to kill without a moment's hesitation, not trusting anyone except for his immediate group. Rick was aware that in their world, there were very few good people left and if you don't fight for your survival, then you would eventually die. Deciding to leave Alexandria without a fight, that was in some ways the toughest decision he'd had to make yet for the survival of his group.

Being the leader seemed to present new, fresher challenges by the day. Rick knew it was his job to take charge and he was starting to see that he was good at it, he was needed and he was decisive and strong when it was called for. But he was also becoming weary - a day when he could hand the burden on to some one else was becoming more and more appealing to Rick.

He started to walk with long purposeful strides. He had put everything into place with Daryl earlier, and now he just needed to check everyone was ready.

In the distance he spotted a group of the new people that had arrived back here with Daryl. Three guys and the blonde woman - Sienna, he had learned her name was. She looked over as she saw him approaching to give him a friendly smile.

"Everything okay here?" Rick stopped and asked seriously. Sparking up a conversation the only way he really knew how to these days.

…..

Rick had a calm voice tinted with a southern lilt, not as strong as Daryl's but similar. Sienna liked it. "Yeah, everything seems to be under control. How's Carl?" She asked politely, with genuine concern at the sad, tired expression on Rick's face.

"He's hanging in there, thanks." Rick put his hand up to run through the edges of his un-kept hair at hearing her mention his son by name. He was impressed she knew that. But a deep frown line appeared on his forehead again as he was forced to think directly about Carl, flooding him with an intense stress.

As if reading his mind Sienna looked into his kind-looking blue eyes, so full of pain.. and she said, "Amelia is a great doctor. She's a little blunt and can be slightly eccentric, but she'll do her best for him. If you can forgive her sharp tongue and bossy ways," she added with a chuckle.

Appreciatively, Rick let out a small laugh. "I'll bear that in mind." He felt more relaxed as he eyed her curiously, taking in her beautiful features, he'd be lying if he said he hadn't noticed them already, back as soon as when they had first showed up even, amongst all the confusion he had spotted her, and then later in the kitchen when she had accompanied Daryl to talk to him.

He sniffed and looked away, he had thought he was done looking at women like that, after his last disastrous attempt to get close to one, after Lori. Ever since he had lost Jessie, before he had even really gotten the chance to get to know her at all, Rick had concluded _that_ part of his life was done. There was no place for lust and desire, and the thrill of romantic love in his world now. But even given that, he would have to be blind not to notice that the woman in front of him now was outrageously hot.

He looked back at her. Putting his hand up to shield the early morning sun from his vision. Something about the light in her wide, sapphire blue eyes was making him feel more at ease. It reminded him of how people had looked before the world went dark. They weren't so haunted and guarded. He had no doubt she must have suffered to some extent too, but not to the degree everyone else he knew had. He looked away from her, because he knew he could quite easily lose himself in those eyes if he wasn't too careful. The prospect of warmth, comfort and excitement, calling out to him

"Yeah, she seems to have things well under control already," he said with a more laid-back and amused tone, breaking into a tiny grin, the weight of the stress temporarily leaving him as he glanced back at her again, he didn't normally partake much in light banter. "Think we need that, we've never had a proper doctor to boss us all around."

"Well, she'll certainly do that," Sienna responded. "There is a hospital and various other doctors back at the base too, but she's the best. Although, I am a little biased."

Rick put his hand up to his hair instinctively again and looked away from her for the second time. The way the fabric of her top was clinging to her curves was distracting him a little as he glanced back at her chest. He realised he had been anything but discreet, when her saw her blush awkwardly and fold her arms against herself. Causing Rick to feel a tad embarrassed, he knew he was woefully out of practice, not that he'd ever been any good with that kind of thing anyway. Shane had always been the ladies man, an expert at checking them out without them noticing whenever he had gotten the chance.

Rick suddenly felt annoyed with himself - he could tell he had made Sienna un-comfortable, as he realised she had been giving off nothing but friendly vibes, that much was evident to him now. "I'd better go and check if Amelia needs a hand with anything," she said.

"Right, yeah," Rick responded with a final awkward smile before he walked briskly over to where he saw Michonne, and a group of his people had gathered not far away.

Maggie was holding Judith, next to Tara and Glenn, with Abraham, Rosita and Eugene to their side. "We all set?" Rick asked forcefully, addressing Michonne.

Michonne didn't reply, instead she just raised an eyebrow at him with a knowing look and said firmly but playfully, "You're wasting your time with that one."

"I dunno know what you mean.." He mumbled in response…pretending not to know what she was referring to, although it was pretty obvious she had observed his interactions with Sienna moments before.

"I think she is _already s_ poken for," Michonne continued, trying to keep a straight face, she enjoyed any chance she got to tease Rick.

Rick's eyes fell to where Sienna was still stood. He hadn't noticed her wearing any sort of wedding band, but he knew that didn't mean anything - not that he had really been looking, he tried to tell himself.

Both Rick and Michonne's eyes looked back to Sienna, to see with his timing perfect, Daryl was walking straight over to where she was stood. He said something to her and distinctly out of character for Daryl, he smiled tenderly as he reached out to touch her on the shoulder leaving his hand lingering there for a moment, causing her to break into a wide smile, and the way she looked at him said it all. She was _with_ him! That was why Daryl had insisted on her not leaving his side when they had first arrived back. Rick felt a little stupid for not having spotted it straight away. If it was anyone else Rick probably would have done. But somehow not Daryl!

He wasn't quite sure why, because Daryl was as alive and human as the rest of them, he would share the same needs, feelings and desires, even if he hid it well. But even so, Rick couldn't quite wrap his head around Daryl being with her. Daryl had shown zero interest in any woman in the two years Rick had known him, not so much as a single suggestive remark or leering glance at anyone that he had seen, so Rick really hadn't seen this coming.. "I umm..didn't think.." Rick started.. glancing back to Michonne to see her grinning back at him now. She was enjoying this.

"What, you didn't think he had it in him?" She responded with a questioning arch of her brow. "Well, _he_ has - believe me - all night to be precise. Take it from the person that had to sleep in the next room to them."

Rick then felt a heat spread over his face as he realised their conversation had seemed to have attracted the attention of a few of the others too, who were also now studying Daryl and Sienna with interest, in response to Michonne's comments.

They watched as Daryl went to move away from her and walk back in the direction of the house he had shared with Rick and the others.

Rick then looked away - he was happy, if not a little envious, if his friend had found something good in their dark, emotionally wrenching world. Daryl deserved that possibly more than anyone. Right now though, Rick knew there were far more pressing matters at stake, as he turned and said seriously. "We best get moving."

* * *

Carol found Daryl slouched back against the steps of the white porch. His hair was hanging in his eyes and a cigarette was dangling out of his mouth. It reminded Carol of how things had been before he had disappeared. It was almost as if nothing had changed. Daryl just doing what he always did. Retreating from everything to take it all in and enjoy a quiet smoke, whilst he pondered their existence.

He looked up as he saw her, but he didn't say anything. Daryl had needed a moments peace before things started to get hectic again. No matter what, he knew that he would always need to take a few minutes out occasionally to be completely alone. But he wasn't unhappy to see Carol. Her quiet company had pretty much always been welcome to Daryl over the course of their friendship.

She perched down next to him and gazed out quietly at the people moving around them. A mixture of their group and the new people that had arrived back with Daryl. She moved a little closer to him and inhaled as she remarked with amused and surprised eyes, "You're wearing aftershave!"

He didn't flinch as he continued to smoke. It had just become a habit to him to wear the stuff that Sienna had left out for him one day amongst some other more masculine-scented shower gels and soaps. Maybe on some subconscious level he wanted to smell nice for her or some shit...

But he could see how Carol would be surprised right now, considering how he used to behave and his old personal hygiene habits.

"That can only mean one thing," Carol continued, trying to get him to react. Her eyes couldn't help but rest on Sienna in the distance, who was busy chatting to Maggie and Glenn. Carol then shifted her focus back to Daryl next to her, to see he too seemed to be silently and discreetly watching them from where he was sat back against the railings of the porch.

"So, you and the blonde?" Carol started hesitantly, her face now displaying a mixture of curious intrigue, friendly concern, and slight nerves at what she was about to discover.

Now that she had Daryl completely on his own with no distractions, Carol wanted answers as to what was actually going on with him and the pretty blonde that he had returned with. She had her suspicions, but she was half expecting him to flat out deny what she was thinking and turn defensive on her.

Daryl twitched, and he turned his head to squint back at her through his hair. He had known this conversation was going to be inevitable sooner or later, Carol has always been his closest friend, there wasn't much she didn't call him out on. But he hadn't quite been expecting or prepared for it right now, not with everything else that was going on.

Carol sighed to herself with his silence, she knew getting anything out of Daryl was never going to be easy, but she was dying to know what was going on with him and the foreign blonde. Although, a part of her still felt he would brush her off and tell her she was being ridiculous. He hated romance, didn't he?

"Sienna," he eventually spoke up in a gravelly voice, referring to his girl by her name as he blew smoke out in front of him.

Carol's eyes narrowed. They way he had said her name had pretty much answered her next question, but she carried on anyway. This was _Daryl_ at the end of the day, her sullen and gruff best friend, and she wanted the actual facts. No matter how much hearing them might hurt.

"Are you a thing? Do you _wanna_ be a thing?….Or, is it _more_ than a thing?"

He paused for a moment, he looked deep in thought, before he replied casually with a shrug, lowering his smoke, "We're together." His piercing blue eyes fixed in on Carol to gauge her reaction to his revelation. He guessed she would be slightly shocked, he had never been the romantic type whatsoever. So this was a big deal.

"Oh," Carol simply responded, her mouth gaping open as she became lost for something to say next. She hadn't been prepared for how it felt to actually hear him admit that.

She looked from Daryl, back to where Sienna was still deep in a conversation with Maggie. She was really was so pretty, Carol could see why he liked her. But she had expected him to be more aloof and secretive about it, awkward even, Carol had not been expecting him to have come out and said it just like that, and a heavy thud hit her insides. It had been obvious really, with the way she had seen him look at her. Carol could recognise the way a man looked at a woman when she meant something special to him. But until she had actually heard Daryl say it, she hadn't quite been able to believe it, from him. Because it was Daryl. He never opened up to anyone. He had seemed shut down to the prospect of love and intimacy. Carol knew that better than anyone. A lot of the time he had stressed a preference to just be alone. Now he was openly admitting he was intimately together with someone. Another woman.

Carol looked back to where he was still looking at her, giving her his full attention. His deep, gentle blue eyes always gave away his huge heart, despite his gruff exterior. Right now they were tinged with concern and almost a hint of guilt. He was moving on. Things really were changing for them.

She wrapped her arms around herself, and a shiver ran across her body. Carol hated change. It had always just been her and Daryl at the core. Two emotionally screwed up people, looking for light. They had never been romantically involved with each other, because they were both too damaged for that. But they had been as close as two people could be. They had kept each other going through the darkest of times, brought each other back to life when needed. They had seemed to understand each other on the most basic of levels, in a way that the rest of their group never had. Even when Daryl had been gone, Carol had never given up hope he would come back to her. Now he _was_ back, but he had someone else. Someone she presumed made him happy in certain ways that she never had, someone he felt comfortable with, that fulfilled his needs, his repressed physical needs probably amongst other things. That had to change the relationship that Carol had with him. A thought which filled her with dread and a little anxiety.

She took in a deep breath, trying to get a handle on her flurry of emotions. It wasn't exactly jealousy she was experiencing. Their relationship was strictly platonic at the end of the day, but it was no secret that she loved Daryl, she'd always love him. At one point, crippled with grief she had wanted to turn that love into something on a more intimate scale to feel even closer and more connected to him. But he had seemed wary and closed off to that prospect, so she had quickly moved on and put the thought of it to one side. Carol had put it down to his many issues, and she hadn't taken it personally, but now…It was just plain weird, thinking of him being with another woman like that, desiring a woman in that way. Discovering that at the end of the day, after everything he had said, he was just like every other man when it came to a beautiful woman that turned his head.

One thing Carol knew for sure though, was that Daryl wouldn't just jump into something casually. If this really did mean something to him, and make him happy and was what he wanted….Carol should try and be happy for him too. _She should try! …_

To be continued….

 _ **Thanks for reading! Please leave a review!**_


	28. TWENTY EIGHT

_**Thanks everyone for the support for last chapter it means so much. I am so pleased people are still reading! I have struggled to update recently, but wanted to continue the story before too long, so this chapter is setting up some more action to come..**_

 _ **Also, I realised I had only submitted the draft of the Daryl/Carol scene from last chapter, so have now added the final edit, if anyone wants to re-read it :)**_

* * *

After several hours of driving the group had stopped at the first military check point. Daryl approached the border on foot with caution, to see that all posts had been completely abandoned. There were no armed guards and trained military with guns patrolling around ready to check any vehicle or group approaching, before allowing them access through to the safer zone.

All they had discovered was a trail of empty vehicles leading up to it, blocking any immediate access. When they hadn't been able to get through, Daryl had wandered up on foot to investigate, with Trent and the soldiers, Kyle and Sam, and Rick and Glenn. Leaving everyone else by the trucks.

Daryl was aware all eyes were on him now, awaiting his lead. He had never been a natural leader, but for some reason he had found himself in charge here. He had been the one to push to get a team back to Alexandria for his people, it was on him, no-one else. There was no Monroe now, just him. His old leader Rick was here now too, to Daryl's relief, but on this occasion Rick was travelling blind and seemed to be looking to Daryl for answers. It was a surreal feeling for the former redneck loner. He hadn't been in charge on this scale before. In their old world he had simply followed his older and more confident brother's order's. Then after the outbreak he had followed Rick's judgement. Daryl had led a few supply runs and he knew he could be level-headed and decisive when he needed to be. But having people rely on him like they were now, that was a big responsibility. _He had to make sure he made the right calls._

His eyes narrowed into small slits as he scanned the scene in front of him, something wasn't right here. That much was apparent.

"They've done a runner," it was Sam that spoke, breaking the baffling silence. "Something must have spooked them."

"Something or someone?" Daryl said in a low and rough voice. He turned to Trent the soldier of the group.

Trent shook his head, "Nah, they wouldn't just abandon their posts like this, not unless they had orders to."

"Orders? From who?" Rick asked loudly.

Daryl looked from the soldiers almost robotic in their approach to staying alive out here kitted out in their protective gear with their firearms to the ready, to Rick and Glenn, in contrast their clothes were more worn and their weapons were whatever they could lay their hands on. But their approach to survival was more real, more feral. They were the ones that knew how to make it out here. They were the ones Daryl would truly want by his side, should it come to the next life and death struggle. They were his brothers.

"From above," Sam answered, in response to Rick's question, his face completely serious. Sam wasn't stupid. He knew the way this was going to go down.

"Y'think summats changed?" Daryl asked, looking at Sam now. They had chosen what they had thought was the safest and most direct route back to avoid the main path of the mega herd as best they could. The point they had got to now was meant to be the border into an amber zone, where there would be less danger and they would be able to travel slightly less on edge. Except there was no way through that border now. They weren't out of the woods yet.

"The satellite images are pretty accurate," Sam replied. "We should be out of it's way by now if we've calculated correctly."

"They must have been called out to something bigger somewhere else," Trent added, referring back to the empty posts, putting Daryl's fears to rest slightly.

"We'll have to try and make contact with Monroe again," Sam said. "We haven't been able to pick up a signal for the past couple of hours."

"So, what do we do now? There's no way we're getting our vehicles through there," Rick piped up forcefully looking at Daryl. Even if they could somehow move all the parked vehicles littering the road and the only form of access to the barrier through to the other side. The locked metal gates would not be easy to penetrate. There was no was no easy way through.

Daryl's eyes lingered on Rick and Glenn again, reminding him he needed to trust his judgement now more than ever, to get his people back to safety. Part of him sensed a trap here, but he knew it was by far the quickest route. The journey back should taken them around eight hours. But as they had discovered on the way here, the roads were not what they had once been and the many obstructions in their way, had meant they'd had to take numerous de-tours costing them a lot of time. "We'll need to find another way around," he eventually said.

Rick nodded as he looked at Daryl, observing his internal struggle. He gave him a reassuring look that said it was okay, he had his back.

Daryl drew in a deep, raggedy breath. He wished he knew this area well, but he didn't, and without any proper inside knowledge of the land he was at a loss for where exactly they should go to next.

"There's a trail through the forest," Kyle said as if reading Daryl's mind. "My dad used to take us through it on camping trips. If we follow it we should pick up the main road further up."

"Y'sure?" Daryl asked. The last thing he wanted was to go on some wild goose chase, or worse still get everyone lost and take them into the path of danger.

The younger guy shrugged. "It's been a while since I've been around here, we used to hike it, the grounds not that even, but I'm fairly sure you can get a vehicle through."

'Okay," Daryl nodded, satisfied. He knew it was their only real shot.

They walked back in silence. Daryl was deep in thought, making a mental checklist of what needed to be done. As their group came into sight, Rick, who had remained by his side suddenly slowed his pace and stopped in his tracks forcing Daryl to do the same. They could see their people grouped around outside and on the back of the two truck's. Daryl spotted Sienna straight away, the sight of her still made his insides twitch a little as he noticed she was sat in the middle of Amelia, Michonne and Tara, sorting through some cans of food.

"Listen, man," Rick said seriously in a hushed tone to Daryl, pausing as Glenn, Sam and Kyle wandered past them deep in a conversation.

Daryl peered at his friend through his long hair, giving him his full attention. Rick placed one hand firmly on his gun from where it was rested in his belt, "I aint gonna pretend to know what's going on here. What you've experienced, and what else is out there. But I know one thing, it's _not_ too late. We were surviving back there… "

There was a moment before Daryl spoke, as he gave Rick a look. He knew what his former leader was getting at. He let out a sigh, "Nah."

"We could go back. Now," Rick continued, his intense eyes darting back and forth over Daryl's face.

"There aint nothin to go back for," Daryl responded, with a quick shake of his scraggly hair.

"We had a home. A community, shelter and security. I know you've found something now….but you can have that back there too. You can come back with us….You and her," Rick added, motioning with his head to where Sienna was smiling at something Michonne was saying to her.

Daryl pushed his hair from his face, his expression indicating he was pondering Rick's predicament. This wasn't easy for Rick, he had to put all his faith in something un-known. He wasn't in control. To Rick right now, the most logical thing to do would be to return to Alexandria where they at least knew they would be safe for now and comfortable, where his injured son could rest, and his people wouldn't have to be afraid for their lives every second of the day all over again, instead of dragging them back into the fearful un-known. Daryl had to admit it was tempting to think of going back to the comfortable house he had stayed in the night before, with Sienna too now. Living a nice, simple life away from everything.

But that would never happen. He knew that. He just had to make Rick see that too, this was bigger than all of them. His relationship with Sienna was irrelevant in his decision to lead them away from Alexandria, he hoped Rick would realise that. Sooner or later reality would kick in at their safe zone and it would fall. If it hadn't had been the herd, it would be have been something else before too long had passed.

"Once we get back to the UN base, you'll see there was nothing safe about it back there," Daryl said with a gruff confidence, giving a quick jerk of his head back in the direction that Alexandria was located. The area he knew was dangerous.

He started walking again. The quicker they could begin moving again, the sooner they could put that danger behind them and they could all start to finally build new lives for themselves.

* * *

Sienna sat on the steps to the truck to the side of Amelia and a few of the women from Daryl's old group. She was trying to dig out the lid to a can with her knife, her hair was in a long messy ponytail over her shoulder. She looked up to see Daryl come and sit beside her. He hadn't spoken to her since they had left Alexandria, they were behind schedule and she knew he was concerned. His jaw was clenched and he had a slightly pained look in his deep blue eyes.

"So, it's a feast of either expired and damaged beans, or cheap and nasty spam with an expiry date of 2050?" She said, holding up a half-opened can of spam.

"I'll go with the spam," he mumbled.

"What was up there?" She asked more seriously, wincing as she caught the edge of her thumb on the lid of the can, causing it to bleed slightly.

He sniffed and looked away, he knew he couldn't bull-shit her. "Nothin, place was like a ghost town."

She put her thumb to her lips to suck it to stop the bleeding as her brow furrowed in confusion. "Seriously? There was no-one there at all?" She asked quickly, her heart-rate suddenly speeding up.

Daryl shook his head. "They could have been called away on something. But means we can't get through, we need to go around, shouldn't set us back too long though," he explained in a low voice so they couldn't be easily overheard. He didn't want to scare anyone unnecessarily.

He stopped talking and shot her an expressive stare as though he wanted to say something else, but thought better of it.

"Oh," her eyes widened as she lowered her cut thumb from her mouth. It was concerning, but she trusted him, he knew what he was doing and she had faith they'd be okay, even in they had to take a de-tour. She looked to her side to see Sam had come over to join their small huddle too.

"Here," she said passing Daryl the opened can of spam with a plastic fork. "You sure you don't want to change your mind and go for the beans? It doesn't look particularly appealing," she added as she sniffed the pale pink mush and made a face, it smelled like rotting dog food, no wonder there was so much of it left.

Sam looked over, "I used to work in a spam factory once, you do _not_ want to know what they put in that stuff. Lets just say no part of the pig is off limits," he remarked with a sly grin.

Daryl started digging in with his fork to shovel in mouthfuls of the processed meat hungrily. Food was food in these times, he'd eat pretty much anything to stay alive if he had to. "You want some?" He offered the half empty can back to Sienna who screwed her face up again with the putrid smell. "Uhh..suddenly I have lost my appetite, I am no longer hungry, for anything," she responded wrinkling her nose as she leapt to her feet.

"Thats a first," Daryl smirked back at her through his hair.

"Oh please, is that some kind of code for your…" Amelia cut in, rolling her dark eyes.

Daryl felt his cheeks burn, he hadn't meant for it to come out like that. "Get your mind out the gutter," he was quick to retort, the corner of his mouth tipping into a smirk as he hid behind his hair still. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Michonne watching them and smiling too, then next to her he saw Carol had appeared and he caught her eye for the briefest of moments before he looked away again. He knew his old group weren't used to the more light-hearted banter his new people were.

* * *

Maggie was leaning up against a tree holding Judith in her arms, she looked up to see Sienna approaching. She squinted and forced a smile at the blonde.

"Hey, mind if I join you?" Sienna asked, sitting down next to her to rest her back up against the trunk of the tree too.

"Sure," Maggie replied.

"Salt crackers, they're a life saver, I saved you some," Sienna said, handing a small packet to Maggie.

"What?" Maggie asked, confusion flashing across her face. Still clutching Judith tightly, she reached out and took the packet with one hand, just as Judith let out a few small cries indicating she wasn't happy.

"For nausea," Sienna explained.

"Nausea?" Maggie questioned arching her brows.

"May I?" Sienna added, holding her arms out to take Judith from Maggie.

"Sure," Maggie responded again, breaking into a wider, more relived smile. Judith was starting to get heavy and Maggie was feeling particularly weary and off colour. Despite that though, she had still insisted on caring for the infant once they had stopped travelling. There was just something comforting about the feel of her warm, innocent little body in Maggie's arms.

Sienna whispered something to Judith and bounced her in her arms to sooth her, it had been a long time since she had held a baby and it felt nice. "I have some root ginger in my bag too," she said, her attention all on Judith. "It's the best thing for morning sickness," she added.

"How did you?…." Maggie started hesitantly, her eyes widening with a little shock. The only other person she had told so far about her new pregnancy was Glenn, and even then she'd had to spell it out for him, despite her mood swings, fatigue and nausea, even he hadn't twigged straight away.

"Just an intuition I guess, takes one to know one," Sienna replied casually.

"You are too?" Maggie exclaimed surprised. Her eyes instinctively flitting over to where Daryl was stood in the distance talking to Glenn and a couple of the new guys.

"No! God, no," Sienna was quick to respond, realising how that had sounded, she didn't want to start any rumours. "I was. A long time ago now," she explained, surprised at how open she was being with a stranger. But she could tell Maggie was in need of someone to talk to and getting people to open up in these times was never easy. She turned her attention back to the baby in her arms, noticing Judith had now closed her eyes against her chest.

Maggie didn't press Sienna further for any details, from her body language she could detect a fleeting glimpse of pain, which quickly filled Maggie with a sadness too, together with a deep sense of dread at what was to come.

"You're about three/four months right?" Sienna asked kindly, changing the subject.

Maggie nodded, biting down on her trembling lower lip, overloaded with pregnancy hormones she was trying hard to keep a handle on her emotions.

"It gets easier. The fatigue and morning sickness, mood swings…they'll ease off soon, you'll gain more energy," Sienna continued, her big blue eyes studying Maggie's face. She couldn't imagine how hard it must be being pregnant for the first time in this broken and dangerous world. It would be exhausting, not to mention worrying and quite frankly terrifying.

"Glad to hear that," Maggie said, her voice wobbling as her eyes swelled with unshed tears. She had been trying her hardest to be so strong. But she had felt so alone recently and the genuine kindness Sienna was showing her now was making her break down a little to release her pent up fears and anxieties, and face the reality of the situation. She suddenly had no control over the tears escaping down her cheeks. She was afraid, and she missed her family so much, her father and sister should still be here with her now.

"It will be okay," Sienna said gently, reaching for Maggie's hand. "Once we get back to the UN centre, there is a hospital there and doctors. They can give you an ultra-sound and check the baby straight away, you'll be able to see it. They have modern medicine there too, and _lots_ of pain relief for when you need it," she said with an amused smile, trying to put Maggie's mind at ease just a little about the prospect of giving birth in these times.

"That's good to hear," Maggie said, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hands and letting out a little laugh too. She didn't want to get her hopes up too much, but there was something about Sienna she liked and trusted. It hadn't escaped Maggie's attention either the way Daryl acted around her too. He tried to play it down, but Maggie could see her was completely besotted with the beautiful blonde and that was a first from him, he normally didn't get all that close to anyone - so she had to be pretty special to have provoked such an effect on her sullen friend.

...

"Something funny?" Daryl suddenly appeared and asked gruffly and a little curiously, as he noticed the subtle stifled laughs of the two women sat next to each other. One, being one of his closest friends, the other his lover.

He looked at Sienna holding Judith against her chest, she seemed so natural and the little girl looked so peaceful in her arms. Sienna placed a delicate kiss on Judith's fair head, and her blue eyes looked up over the infant to meet Daryl's inquisitive gaze.

Sienna looked from Daryl's questioning eyes back to Maggie. Maggie's red, puffy eyes indicated she had been crying, but Sienna could tell Maggie was trying to hold it together again now, she didn't want to come across as weak. "No," Sienna dismissed, in response to Daryl.

Daryl's eyes narrowed as he turned to Maggie. "No," Maggie brushed off too, pulling herself up to stand.

"Well we best get moving," Daryl said brusquely, with a trace of annoyance.

"I'll take her back," Maggie said to Sienna, reaching out to take the still sleeping Judith from her.

...

"What was all that about?" Daryl asked Sienna again when Maggie had walked away out of earshot. He wasn't an idiot, he could see that they'd been having a serious conversation about something.

Sienna looked away from him and put her thumbnail up to her mouth to chew down on it as she debated what to say. She knew Maggie probably wouldn't mind Daryl knowing about her pregnancy, but she also knew it wasn't her place to tell. But before she got the chance to say anything more, they were suddenly interrupted by Abraham rushing towards them.

"Dixon, we got a problem," Abraham said seriously…..

 _ **Thanks for reading, sorry about the slight cliffhanger ;) but wanted to get another chapter out before the weekend! Please review if you can :)**_


	29. TWENTY NINE

_**A/N - TWD is back- and so is this story! Sorry for the delay in chapters - real life got in the way - along with a little writers block. But I still have a LOT of story to tell so here is the next chapter :) :)**_

Daryl stopped dead in his track, and his eyes swept over Abraham's troubled, serious face in front of him. This was going to be bad!

"The vehicles won't start. We've tried everything," Abraham blurted out loudly, his tone sober.

"We need to re-fuel?" Daryl asked in a low voice, his hair hanging in his eyes a little. They had been sure to bring enough gas with them to get them back, even if there was no-where they could find to re-fuel along the way, which considering their current situation seemed to have been a smart move.

Abraham's face darkened. "Nah. It's not that."

"Then what?" Daryl asked confused. His eyes darted sideways to where Sienna was still stood by his side to see that the same look of confusion and concern had appeared on her face too.

"The gas we had, it must have gone bad or summat…." Abraham cocked his head to indicate for Daryl to follow him.

...

Back by the trucks, Daryl saw a small group had formed. "All of it's pretty un-usable it must have deteriorated. It's like we've got complete engine failure from it. We should have just used our own stuff," The lead soldier Trent stated, and Daryl saw the military guy was stood along with, Glenn, Rick, Sam and a few of the others by the gas cans they had brought with them from Alexandria. "We tried getting some from the other vehicles here, but it looks like someone already beat us to it. They're pretty much all empty."

Daryl's slanted eyes turned to Glenn, remembering he had managed to fix a few vehicles and get them out of dire situations over their time on the road.

Glenn shrugged, his expression serious. "I've had a look, but I can't see a way to fix it."

Without saying anything, Daryl marched over to the first engine himself to poke his head inside and fiddle around with a few things. He was pretty adept at fixing motor-cycle engines and he knew a few things about cars, but here he knew he was totally out of his depth. He sighed and shook his head, turning back to Abraham. "How old was it?" He asked wiping his hand on the rag he carried around in his back pocket still.

Abraham's brow creased, as he replied seriously, "I dunno."

"We need to try and pick up a radio signal, call for back-up." Sienna spoke up, looking at Daryl from where she had appeared by his side again. She knew they needed to call for some sort of help, they were technically stranded out here now.

Daryl looked back at her and jerked his head once in agreement without speaking.

"Listen, Alexandria isn't far back that way. A few of us could head back on foot, try and find another vehicle somewhere and check the rest of the gas there. We had a large supply." Rick said forcefully, resting his hand on the gun in his belt.

Daryl turned to look at him. "How do ya know it aint all bad?"

"Can't say for certain, but we gotta do something," Rick replied, looking him straight in the eye.

Daryl's eyes creased and his face twitched. He didn't like disagreeing with Rick, but when it was necessary he knew that he had to. Now being one of those times. Despite their situation here, Daryl felt certain that any of them going back to Alexandria would be the wrong thing to do.

He glanced back at Sienna to see her exchanging a look with Sam. Her blue eyes were wide and anxious. "No, we need to keep everyone moving forwards into the safe zones, not backwards." Sam said firmly with confidence, and his face was deadly serious as he turned to look at Daryl, echoing his thoughts exactly.

Daryl knew Sienna and Sam well enough now to know to listen to them. All Rick had known was life in the dangerous red-zones since the start of the aploycalapse. But the British journalists knew different, they had seen things and they were aware that now more than ever the danger those red-zones posed was critical and there were safer areas free from the infected. The mega-herd they had picked up on the satellites was on course for Alexandria, that was if more drastic measures weren't employed to wipe it out first.

"You think you can get the radios working? Find out what the hell is going on," Daryl asked, glancing at Sienna.

"Yeah, it shouldn't be a problem, we can try some of the equipment on the abandoned military vehicles if all else fails," she replied looking to Sam who nodded in silent agreement.

Daryl nodded once too, fully satisfied for now. He had seen her do it before, so he had to have faith she could do it again now and they could contact Monroe and find out what the hell was happening and get everyone the hell out of there- fast.

He glanced back to Rick, and their eyes locked again. He could tell Rick didn't like being over-ruled in matters he didn't fully understand."We all should stay together, try and make contact with the military and wait here for the night, it's not safe to split up now," Daryl explained to his friend and former leader. He knew it wouldn't be long before darkness set in for the night and his gut was strongly telling him that staying here for the night, where they had shelter, food and could easily keep watch for danger or stray walkers, was the right thing to do.

"Okay," Rick responded with a half nod, Daryl could see on some level Rick believed in him still, but he could also tell the former sheriff's deputy still didn't think that sitting around doing nothing was the right call.

…

As their sub-group broke apart, Sienna brushed past Daryl and her hand took his and pressured his fingers. "It's the right thing to do," she whispered so that only he could hear. Daryl felt a comfort at hearing her say that and he enjoyed the feel of her hand in his for a second, inhaling the sweet scent around her, before she broke the contact and he watched through his hair as she followed Sam to set to work before the natural light faded completely, leaving Daryl with the putrid and rotten scent of the earth once again. A stark reminder that they all needed to focus everything on the task in hand - getting to a better place.

* * *

It was well past midnight as Daryl wandered around the back of the large, main truck they had been travelling in. He pointed his flashlight in front of him with one hand, the other holding his cross-bow, as he patrolled for any signs of danger. He shivered as a bitter wind blew the edges of his hair slightly and an uneasy feeling suddenly hit his insides. The night had become eerily silent, most people were resting on the truck, whilst a few of them had stayed up to keep watch.

Suddenly, something in front of him caught his eye and he shone his light upon a figure sat on the back steps of the truck, to see that it was Carol. She was staring into the night with a grim look on her face as she clutched her rifle tightly.

"Couldn't sleep or something?" Daryl mumbled as he perched down next to her.

"Something," she mumbled back, her eyes sliding to the side to acknowledge him.

"There's more than enough of us keeping watch out here, you can go back in and rest up a bit, there shouldn't be any 'infected' out this far," he said in a low voice, indicating with his head for her to get back on the truck with the others.

"I'm fine," she responded her mouth still set into a serious line. It hadn't escaped her notice how he now seemed to refer to the un-dead as the 'infected' like his new people, and not 'walkers' like Rick had always done. It was another sign that he really was changing. He seemed different since he had returned.

Daryl shrugged, "Suit yourself," he muttered gruffly. He knew she was every bit as stubborn as he was. There was no way she was going to go and settle to sleep on the truck.

Through the edges of his ruffled hair he quietly observed her. She seemed quieter then he remembered, more troubled and distant. Almost like she had been back when he had first known her and she had lost Sophia, she had seemed closed to him, closed to everyone. Although he knew she was far from the meek and feeble house-wife she had appeared to have been back at the start of all this. Carol had more than proved how awesome and resourceful she could be to Daryl, and he would always respect her more than anything.

She wrapped her arms tighter around herself and shivered slightly as the cold night air picked up around them.

"Y'want my jacket?" Daryl asked quietly, his eyes filling with a little concern.

Carol hesitated for a moment unsure how to respond, before she broke into a small smile, "Thanks," she replied. She knew he had just said that to be nice and it made her think of all the times he had offered her his jacket or poncho when they had been out on the road before and his genuine kindness had shone through his hardened and gruff exterior. So much had changed since then, but it reminded her that deep down they were still the same people at the core.

She continued to smile as she watched him slide it off and drape it over her shoulders, "You're not cold?" She asked as she snuggled back into it, his comforting scent from it instantly warming her -tobacco, sweat and leather - only now mixed with a little aftershave too. Which couldn't help but make her smile a little more, that there was another side to him after all.

"Nah," he lied slightly. He'd had a thick shirt on under his jacket, but there was no denying the nights were getting colder.

She shuffled a little to get comfortable and winced suddenly as a searing pain shot through her chest, causing Daryl to flinch. Around the others, Carol tried to play down the injuries she had gained that eventful day in Atlanta back when she had been looking for Beth with Daryl, but she knew she could never hide them from him.

"At the refugee centre, they've got doctors and a hospital, we can get you sorted properly, they ship medicines over from Europe," Daryl said reassuringly in reaction to her obvious discomfort, his eyes fixed on her.

Carol looked away into the pitch blackness. She didn't want him to see her face. She had resigned herself to the fact she would just have to live with the discomfort of her injuries for quite a while now, the thought of being treated by proper doctors with modern medicine was simply un-thinkable - or was it?

A silence fell between them. Both lost in their thoughts as they gazed out into the darkness. It felt like they had slipped back into old times, just the two of them talking alone into the night.

Carol turned back to him and shot him an intense look. It was strange hearing him of all people talking so confidently about another world, where on a bigger scale things were getting back to how they had been before.

"What?" he asked, his brows drawing together.

"You're different now," Carol stated.

"Nah, I aint different," Daryl mumbled defensively in a low gravelly voice.

"Yeah, you are. You don't need us anymore," she continued.

"I'll always need you," he responded with a slight scowl as he stared at her with his piercing blue eyes.

The intensity of his stare, caused Carol to look away again. He didn't bull-shit. Ever. He'd meant that. "How many people are there back there?" She asked quietly, changing the subject as she fiddled with the strap of her rifle. "I mean, like us. How many were there?"

Daryl swallowed and sniffed before he replied, "A hundred or so, maybe. Hard to say really, they come and go. Some leave, but not many, most stay and get jobs, others try and get on the evacuation schemes."

"Evacuation schemes?" Carol was quick to question, raising her brows.

"They have evacuation schemes to Europe," Daryl explained.

Carol suddenly felt a knot in her chest. "Is that what you're planning to do - escape to Europe?" She asked, half teasing, half serious at the thought of him doing that.

Daryl screwed his face up a little. Maybe sub-consciously it had crossed his mind, but it had certainly never been anything he had given any serious thought to. Before the apocalypse he had never even been outside of Georgia, so to think that he could move halfway across the world now seemed pretty fucking insane. Or maybe not? Perhaps the idea of doing that was actually the sanest thing possible right now. He had never discussed the day when Sienna would return to her home country with her. In the time they had spent together they had both seemed reluctant to define anything in great detail, preferring to just live purely in the moment. In a way Daryl knew it was best that way, that way maybe it wouldn't hurt so much the day the inevitable happened, because it would happen - good things didn't last long for him. One way or anther by his doing or not, things always turned to shit.

"Nah," he said gruffly to Carol, in response to her question. He shrugged his shoulders, "Think there's gonna be enough to do over to here to keep me busy for the rest of my days," he dismissed further, and he put his thumbnail up to his mouth to chew down on it as he became silent again.

"Really?" Carol's eyes widened, "Despite the hot blonde?" She challenged.

Daryl ignored her comment.

Carol knew by his body language not to push it, she could tell it was a delicate subject and not something he wanted to discuss. The thought of him leaving the continent would have never crossed her mind had it not been for the beautiful girl with the British accent he seemed to be so taken by and also intimately involved with.

Daryl's eyes narrowed and a little irritation came over him with the knowing way Carol seemed to be staring at him still, after her last comment her words had been like a slap. She thought she knew everything about him and in a lot of ways she did, but she had it wrong here. He wasn't just some redneck ass-hole chasing tail, if that had been what she was trying to imply. He was genuinely trying to get his people back to a place he knew would be safer for them and that they could build a better life.

"S'not what you're thinking?" He eventually grunted to silence her inquisitive stare.

"Oh. What am I thinking?" She responded.

"Aint doing this for any reason other than I wanna give people a shot at something better…..Ass-kicker, the boy.. they deserve that," he mumbled quietly.

Carol titled her head and allowed her eyes to rest back on Daryl's lined face. He might appear different to the man he had been before, but his scars were still there, and in his eyes she could still see glimmers of the person he had been before. The way he had been acting since he had returned, leading them all, taking charge and being decisive and in control - that wasn't the same man she had known before he had disappeared. But the conflicted, hardened and almost pained look on his face now was a sure sign of how he had acted a lot of the time during their time together. She knew all he wanted deep down was to do his best by them all. That was all he had ever wanted really, despite him having tried to pretend otherwise at times. But they were all more than aware that things rarely went to plan - and right now, that was a big burden for Daryl to bear on his own.

"I know," she said softly, reaching to put her hand over his tenderly. "And I believe you - that it's better there."

...

Minutes passed, Daryl hung his head, refusing to speak anymore. He was exhausted but his body was too filled with adrenaline for him to be able to get any proper sleep, instead his mind became over-taken with a multitude of muddled thoughts.

He couldn't help but think back to the nightmarish past couple of years, all their harrowing experiences. He knew he would be dead now if it hadn't had been for Carol and Rick. He owed them. He couldn't just drift away. First his conversation with Rick earlier in the day after they had first discovered the abandoned posts, now this with Carol, was making him think hard about his priorities. The only thing he should be doing now was keeping everyone alive and getting them back to the base - and he didn't want his friends thinking anything to the contrary.

Maybe allowing himself to get too close to someone like he had with Sienna had been a mistake? _Maybe._

They stayed like that for a while in silence, neither wanting to move and join the rest of their now bigger group.

Eventually Daryl felt his eye-lids becoming heavy and his limbs started to slowly relax...…

* * *

"Daryl.." The next thing Daryl heard was the sound of Sienna's voice.

He opened his eyes groggily to focus on her face as he felt her hand gently shaking his bicep. It was day-light and he was alone now, Carol had disappeared.

"You okay?" Sienna asked.

He put his hand up to brush his long hair away from his vision so he could look at her properly. His eyes glanced quickly over her curvy figure, her black tank-top accentuated her ample cleavage and toned waist so perfectly, and her blonde hair was spilling down her back and over her shoulders as she took a step closer to him.

"Yeah, you?" he grunted back at her.

She nodded and he could tell by the weary look in her blue eyes that she too had been up all night. He had left her working the day before, trying to get a radio signal with Sam and Louie. He continued to gaze at her, despite the tiredness, she still looked beautiful to him, the light from the early-morning sun made the freckles on her nose more prominent than usual and her full lips curled up into a small smile that caused a sparkle to dart over her eyes as she held his gaze. Before she became more serious again.

He looked away to see his leather jacket neatly folded by his side.

"You manage to get a signal?" he asked, although the look on her face didn't fill him with much hope.

She smoothed a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear, and bit down on her lip, shaking her head as she replied tentatively. "No. We've been working all night, but nothing. I've never seen anything like it. This area is a complete black spot."

He didn't say anything. Instead he stood up to turn away from her.

"Where are you going?" she asked, a look of confusion appearing on her face.

"Going to take a piss," he responded abruptly as he stepped away from her and turned his back to unzip his flies against the nearest tree.

...

Daryl couldn't deny he still felt a strong desire when he looked at Sienna, but right now that desire was replaced with disappointment and a little anger. He had been counting on her being able to fix the radio or get a signal. They were stranded out here and that had seemed to be their only real hope. He had put his faith in her, and he had made everyone stay here for nothing. They were no better off than they had been the moment they had arrived at this point. They were screwed and he didn't have any sort of back-up plan.

...

Sienna frowned as Daryl returned to where she was stood, she had been hoping for a hug, or a kiss, some form of comfort, especially after the situation they had all found themselves in and the gruelling night she'd had trying to come up with a solution. But instead his jaw was clenched and he was completely averting his gaze from her.

Her voice wobbled a little as she said, "We did everything we could, Daryl…"

He looked back at her for a second, his lips were a straight, hard line strained around the edges with the effort of holding his temper.

"What is your problem?" she asked in a firmer tone, her hand resting on her hip as her pupils flared. He was being rude and dismissive and it was starting to piss her off, he wasn't the only one right now holding the massive strain of the burden to get everyone including themselves back to safety.

"My problem princess is that you shouldn't be making damn promises you can't keep. You said you could get a signal and call for back-up," he replied harshly, his face screwing up as his eyes bore into her.

"I _thought_ I could, and I didn't hear you coming up with an alternative," she bit back, her eyes flashing angrily now as she mimicked the inflection in his voice.

His jaw tightened, he was getting more pissed off by the second. His growing anger and frustration coming from a number of different places.

She put her hand out to grab hold of his forearm and he flinched away from her. He knew she was trying to provoke some kind of response from him and right now he wanted to yell at her, but instead he kept his mouth shut and looked down at the ground. He didn't want to be doing this.….he wasn't cut out for this….it was easier to be alone. Not to have to feel like an extension of yourself could potentially be ripped away from you at any moment. He needed to be free from that and be able to think clearly.

She allowed him a few seconds of silence, before she drew in a deep breath and said in a calmer tone, "There's a place further into the forest that Trent knows about, it used to be a kids holiday camp, but the military turned it into another check point…."

She paused, before carrying on hesitantly... "They should have more supplies for us there and we could call for back-up. Amelia said she needs to administer more IV antibiotics to Carl and there should be all the equipment there that we would need, we could bring it back or take Carl there. I know you said we should all stay together, but a few of us were going to head towards there on foot…" She chewed down on her lip and blinked several times awaiting his reaction, feeling more and more uncomfortable. This was a side to him that she wasn't used to.

He looked up at her again, meeting her gaze straight on as a tense knot formed in his stomach and he snapped coldly, "Do what you want."

He hated himself for a second as he saw the hurt filing her eyes and once again he turned away from her, not wanting to have to face the situation he was evoking. He knew she hadn't expected him to say that so dismissively. She had been expecting to have to challenge him on the reasons why it was a good idea for her to break off from the main bulk of the group.

"Okay," she nodded and she watched his face change for a moment, to see the anger disappear, and become replaced with hurt and pain too.

"Kyle is going to come with us as he knows the area well, and Spencer volunteered too as an extra pair of hands to carry stuff if needed. Rick said he would stay here with Carl and Judith, and Sam and Louie will stay here and try and get the radio working still," Sienna continued, watching him carefully.

A surge of annoyance suddenly hit Daryl once again. They had all been discussing this behind his back. ' _Rick, Trent, Kyle - and since when had that smarmy son-of-a-bitch Spencer ever volunteered to go out on any kind of mission before?'_

Sienna wrapped her arms around her chest as she noticed his eyes were avoiding her once again and his face had changed again, she could tell her didn't want her to see him becoming vulnerable as emotion flooded his blue eyes.

A tense silence fell.

Daryl's body stiffened and he could feel his temper flaring once again as he shrugged and eventually snapped. "Fine -already said - do what you like."….

TO BE CONTINUED….

 _ **Thanks for reading, Please review! So, their first proper fight! Had to happen...But rest assured Daryl ONLY has eyes for Sienna here & she won't be taking any shit! He just has a few things to work through, & the groups situation is about to get a whole lot more crazy in the next few chapters. **_


	30. THIRTY

_**I can't believe 30 chapters and counting...Thank you so much for all the amazing support for this story, you truly are the best readers! I also can't believe I keep getting asked about my other stories too. The honest truth is that I haven't ever completed a story unless I state that, so stay tuned. Although I have to confess I am having writers block with bethyl and I don't get that much time to write anymore I just do it for fun, so if anyone has any ideas for them, that they want to share than please feel free to pm me!**_

 _ **Anyway, here is the next chap, so hope you enjoy. And on a side who else is super excited for TWD tonight? Daryl & Rick! YES:) :) :)**_

* * *

Daryl looked up from what he was doing but he didn't speak as he saw Sienna wandering over in his direction, she was with Kyle and Spencer. A sight that instantly got his back up. She'd known Spencer for all of five minutes and already he was acting like he was part of her inner circle, the way he walked just a little too close to her and brushed her arm slightly as he smiled at something she had said to him. _Well, fuck them!_

His hostile body language reflected his frame of mind as he stewed on that thought, jealousy and irritation pulsed through him as he clenched his fists and tensed up, avoiding any kind of eye contact. In the time he had known her Daryl couldn't help but notice how Sienna just seemed to have a manner about her of attracting attention from the opposite sex without even realising it. Whenever a man approached her however, her demeanour always appeared polite, but it was clear she had no interest in them, so Daryl had always just had to bite his tongue. She had never been particularly flirtatious with anyone except him, more often than not she was quiet, focused and deep in thought. Now, that she was here amongst his old group, it was really no different.

"We're heading off," Sienna said with an earnest attempt at a smile. Daryl looked up but didn't speak, and she couldn't help but detect a small scowl twisting on his lips, which caused her heat to sink a little. His eyes met hers for a split second before he looked away again, allowing his hair to fall into his eyes.

"Here - take this map," Kyle spoke up, breaking the tense silence that was growing with Daryl's lack of response.

Daryl's filthy fingers reached out and took the map from the younger guy as he grunted and gave him a nod of acknowledgement.

"There is a river here, we think the camp is around this area," Kyle explained. Daryl looked down to see he'd marked an x on the map around an area of blue. The map wasn't clear but it was better than nothing and from the main road it was clear enough where they were in relation to the area Kyle had marked.

"If Trent is right then there should be people there. They can contact HQ and call for back-up, or we can possibly acquire some transport there and supplies," Sienna added calmly, as she tried to compose herself and put any personal issues to one side for now. She was guessing that all the events and stresses of the past few days were finally catching up to Daryl and he just needed space.

"We should be back by midday, early afternoon at the latest," Kyle went on to say. He would be leading the group as he had the best knowledge of the area, but it was just an estimation as to how long things were going to take, or what they might find along the way.

"But if we're not back by then, or if something happens, then head for the river, we can meet you there," Sienna said a little awkwardly, watching Daryl.

Again he didn't really respond, and she suddenly felt the intense need to confront him about his cold behaviour towards her. He was trying to push her away that much was clear, but she wanted to know why? It wasn't the time or the place to do that now though, Sienna knew that. If he wanted to behave like a complete ass-hole about her not getting the equipment working than screw him. She didn't need that crap. But a nagging feeling told her that it probably wasn't just that, that was making him so moody right now.

"Okay," Daryl responded with a stubborn set of his chin. Everything in him was screaming to just put his issues to one side and go with them, he knew it could be dangerous and he could be useful, Rick could take charge here. But somehow he just couldn't bring himself to do that, choosing instead the easier option of staying glued to the spot and frowning slightly as he shoved the map into his pocket.

He was careful not to make direct eye contact with Sienna. Which he regretted the moment she turned her back to him to walk away with the others into the distance. He hadn't forgotten the last and only other time that they had been separated like this since they had met, when he gone off with Monroe on a dangerous trip to a red zone - that time though she had hugged and kissed him, and the look in her eyes had made him feel loved and wanted in a way that he had never done before. A small lump formed in his throat as he tried to push the memory of that moment to one side and set his mind to something else.

* * *

Daryl pulled his head out of the large truck engine; not being able to just sit around and do nothing he had been fiddling around in there for a while to try and get it going with no success, which was doing nothing to brighten his dark mood. _'Fuck',_ he muttered angrily under his breath as he slammed the lid down.

Sienna and the others had been gone for a few hours, Daryl wasn't exactly sure of the time but he knew it was well past midday, and he had an uneasy feeling that they weren't just going to rock up with good news anytime soon either.

"Something piss you off?" Rick commented.

Daryl jerked his head back to see Rick stood behind him with his hands resting on his hips. Daryl shook his head, not wanting to speak incase he started to yell his frustrations out loud.

Rick shot Daryl a concerned look. He could tell something big was on his mind.

Daryl realized he needed to pull himself together as he swung around to fold his arms against his chest and give his friend his full attention, "Whats up?" He asked flatly.

"Just came to check in, discuss our next course of action. People are starting to ask questions," Rick responded.

There was a pause. Daryl really didn't want be having this discussion but he knew it was necessary. They couldn't stay here another night, Carl was sick, their food had to be rationed as it was, and they were another day closer to the possibility of being swallowed up by the path of the mega herd.

"We wait here for a bit longer, the others said they'd be back," Daryl mumbled, not sounding altogether too confident, but he knew relying on Sienna, Kyle and the others getting back was their only option right now.

Rick could detect the frustration in Daryl's voice, and he felt his pain. Rick had hoped Sienna and the others would have been back by now too and there was still a good chance that they would be soon. But if they weren't, Rick knew they needed a back up plan. "Listen," he started….When he was suddenly interrupted by an all too familiar low moaning sound, together with the snapping of a few twigs coming from the trees by the side of the road to the edge of the forest.

Both men froze and looked over to their right to see it was a lone, pathetic looking walker, decomposed and rotting as it stumbled slowly towards them. Daryl reached for his cross-bow and fired straight into it's forehead, stopping it dead in its tracks and causing it to stumble back to the ground in a clumsy heap.

He looked back to see that a small group of infected were now emerging from the same direction, probably alerted by the noise of the original walker. Before he or Rick had the chance to do anything further, Michonne was by their side drawing her sword to slice into them one by one, cleanly and expertly, just like she had done a thousand times before since the start of the outbreak.

"Impressive! That's one way to deal with them," Sam remarked with a slightly awed and amused expression from where he and Amelia had now appeared next to them too. Daryl half expected him to start filming...

Then all hell broke loose.

The moans and snarls of the walkers this time were much louder and more distinctive.

They all looked in the direction of the forest to witness a long procession of walkers wandering aimlessly out. Daryl didn't waste a second this time as he raised his crossbow again to starting firing into the nearest ones causing them to noisily topple over. The sudden noise and movement, alerted the rest of the walkers as they started to pick up speed. Daryl raised his bow again to take another shot and another…

Beside him, Rick quickly surveyed the situation to assess what they were dealing with, there were possibly around twenty walkers no more, they could take them out quickly if they were careful, and eliminate the immediate danger. He drew his gun and starting firing rounds into them. It wasn't long before all the rotting corpses were heaped on the ground around them.

Daryl put his hands up to his head to exhale. But before any of them had any real chance to take a breather, a new group of walkers had appeared, the same as before stumbling out one after the other.

The sounds from the gun-shots must have led them straight out here to them, Daryl thought with a heavy thud in his stomach and a fresh jolt of adrenaline. This time there were more and they looked faster, and altogether more hungry for human flesh. He didn't want to waste any more arrows so instead he whipped out his knife and started sticking the blade into the brains of the ones heading in his direction. He glanced to his left to see Glenn and Carol had now joined Rick in firing at them, whilst Michonne was taking them with her sword again. Daryl felt a weird sense of relief, there was a definite safety in numbers and his group had done this many times before, this didn't faze them anymore, nothing did. He then heard further gunshots and he saw out of the corner of his eye, Sam and Amelia had joined in too. Daryl wondered how they would fare, but he was pleasantly surprised that they both seemed to know how to shoot and weren't doing badly at taking out their fair share of the infected too.

It wasn't too long before some louder gun-shots rang out and Daryl saw from the top of the truck, the two remaining soldiers Trent had left behind had started firing down too, along-side Sasha and Abraham. The rest was then a blur, as everyone that could seemed to be joining in now, working hard in the fight to take out all the 'infected' walkers - and keep the area safe.

But it seemed the more they took out, the more that just kept coming seemingly out of no-where, pouring in faster and faster, driven by an insane and rabid hunger for their flesh. Daryl knew they couldn't carry on taking them out forever and they couldn't waste all their ammunition here either, the best thing they could do was to try and make a break for it. He looked to his side to see Tara was shooting close by, "How many are still on the trucks?" He yelled breathlessly. Trying to formulate a plan in his head and mentally account for everyone.

"About seven, Maggie is there with Judith and Carl," Tara replied, as she aimed just in time at a particularly vicious and decaying mouth looking to take a bite out of her.

"We need to get everyone off the vehicles," Daryl yelled over to Rick. He knew the walkers were just going to keep coming now. He was fairly sure they weren't part of the mega-herd as they wouldn't have been spread out so much, instead he though it was more likely that the noises they had made taking the original few out, had caught the attention of any strays lurking in the area and it was known that this was very much a red, 'infected' zone still.

Regardless of whether it was the start of the herd or not, Daryl knew they couldn't stay because there was just too many now. They had to make a break for it somehow. The infected seemed to be all heading for the trucks and they weren't about to give up and move on any time soon. If they could just keep the walker's focus purely on that and away from them, Daryl's group could escape back into the forest and away from them.

"Carl's still on the truck, and Judith, I'm going in to get them," Rick yelled back.

"We'll cover you," Daryl said urgently raising his cross-bow again, he glanced at Glenn who had appeared next to them.

"Maggie's on there too," Glenn stressed a bead of sweat winding down his brow.

"We'll get them out," Rick assured firmly.

The three men moved to the doors of the truck, firing their way through. Rick leapt up and on board. He appeared seconds later propping up a shaken-looking, bandaged Carl with one arm, the other shooting at the walkers still. Behind them was Maggie holding Judith tightly to her chest with one arm, the other clutching her gun ready to shoot.

"Come on," Rick yelled, waving with his hand as the other people that had been on the truck stumbled out too behind Maggie, consisting solely of the small group of original Alexandrian's that had joined them and Father Gabriel.

Daryl felt a pit of dread as he heard a blood-curdling scream and one of the Alexandrian women fell to the ground as she was attacked by a couple of decaying snarling walkers. Daryl didn't know her name, she was dark -haired and in her 50's and had been one of the original residents. Then before he could do anything else, he was horrified to see the three other women behind her suffering the same fate as they were bitten and torn apart from all angles. He looked away and anxiously around for Rick and the others.

To his relief, Daryl saw that Rick had managed to usher Carl, Maggie and Judith away from the dangerous area around the truck. He breathed a small sigh of relief, that was all that mattered at that point. Daryl hated losing people, but he knew they couldn't save everyone anymore it was just a cruel part of their current life, _losing people._

He looked back just in time to see Gabriel too had been outnumbered and was being eaten alive, causing Daryl's stomach to turn violently. He hadn't witnessed that kind of thing for a few months now, but in a weird way it felt more like a few years, there was a time when he had started to become numb at the sight of blood and guts and death, but not now - now it all seemed so real again. He had thought he was done with that shit. But clearly not.

He stepped back some more to see that now the majority of the walkers were grouped around the truck, banging and scratching at the walls. Their attention was for now away from them, and his group were able to take an agonising rest at the edge of the forest. But Daryl knew it wouldn't be for long, soon someone would make too loud a noise, and it would only take one walker to turn it's head, and it would all start up again.

"Someone needs to create a diversion on the truck, while we head in the other direction," Daryl said quickly. He knew they could make a break for it now, while the coast seemed to be clear, but he also knew any kind of sound would alert the attention of the walkers away from the truck and back on to them.

"That will be suicide," Glenn said from where he was stood closely to Maggie.

"There's too many of them now," Michonne added, looking from Daryl to Rick. "We should just go now, while we can."

"No, Daryl's right, we need to make sure they don't follow us," Rick said forcefully.

"I'll do it," one of the soldiers suddenly said, causing everyone to turn and look in his direction.

"Y'sure?" Daryl asked, looking him over. He was tall and muscular and he had a bullet proof vest on still. Daryl was ashamed to say he had forgotten his name, Trent had brought four soldiers, two were out with him on the trip into the forest with Sienna and the others, and the other two were here. All Daryl knew was that they all had families back in Europe and from what he could tell they were good men, trained killers, but good men, brave and loyal. Sienna had told him that, and Darly had exchanged a few words with them here and there every now and again.

The soldier nodded back at him.

"No," Tara said passionately. Daryl looked at her face, he knew that she, Abraham and Rosita had spent a bit of time getting to know the soldiers over the past few days, and because of that she saw them as people just like them, and not just trained men with guns.

"It's okay," the soldier said. "We're not infected like you. I can wait it out until you've gone, then make a break out."

"He'll be okay as long as he makes it out alive," Daryl explained gruffly. Trying to make it seem a bit better, he knew what a sacrifice the British guy was making for them and he also knew not being infected wouldn't mean a damn thing, if a pack of walkers tore you apart. He shivered with that thought.

…

They all watched as the lone guy started firing shots into the air, scrambling through the crowds of what had once been living people just like them, now reduced to snapping, growling creatures, dead behind their blood-shot eyes - parasites desperate for human flesh. That was what the majority of the world had been reduced to.

They all breathed a sigh of relief as they saw the soldier make it on to the truck in time to slam the door shut and start banging on the windows.

"Come on, come on, we gotta move," Daryl hissed, as he signalled with his arm, indicating quietly for everyone to follow him into the forest.

* * *

Daryl pulled the crumpled map Kyle had given him out of his back pocket to glance over it properly this time. He hadn't exactly been in the best of moods when the younger guy had given it to him earlier. But now his sullen eyes rested on the small dot of blue at the centre. He was fairly confident he could lead them there. He had already managed to pick up their tracks, if he kept his head and they managed to get there before night-fall, hopefully they could meet up with the others and it would be okay, as he remembered what they had said to him earlier that morning.

It seemed like a life-time ago now to Daryl, the tense conversation he'd had with Sienna, Kyle and Spencer back then. Remembering the way he had dismissed Sienna too, was starting to make him feel like shit. He had regretted behaving like that right from the moment she was gone, and suddenly behaving like a complete jerk hadn't seemed like such a great thing to do.

Right now, all he could hear in his head were the recent words she had said to him, back when they had been in bed together at Alexandria - _'I've just got a feeling something is going to happen'_...She had been wrapped up in his arms in the comfort of his nice warm sheets as she had said that after they had made passionate love, now that just seemed like a dream. Flashes of her sparkling blue eyes ran through his mind as he was hit with an ever deeper regret. _What if she had been right?_

But he couldn't think like that, not now. His fingers shook as he shoved the map back into his pocket. He was thankful that most of them had made it out, and now he just had to focus on getting them to the camp safely.

"You think it's far?" Reckon we'll make it there in day-light?" Rick asked, his face grave as he stood by Daryl's side.

Daryl nodded. "Should do," he grunted back, although truthfully he really couldn't say for sure.

"Ya reckon that was the start of it?' Daryl dropped back to ask Sam quietly as they all started to move again and he wondered whether that had actually been the start of the herd.

"I don't think so," Sam replied seriously. "Don't think we'd be standing here now if it was. Let's just hope the others have managed to make some kind of contact and we get the hell out of here soon though."

Daryl swallowed, he felt a little re-assured to hear Sam say that. But he knew Sienna's friend was right, they did need to get out of there soon, things were definitely not right, and Daryl was starting to realise more and more as the day wore on that he wanted his girl back by his side.

It wasn't just his desire to see her sweet face again either, they were out here un-prepared in the middle of no-where and they needed to find her and the others, because it seemed to be their only real shot of getting rescued, and despite everything else he just felt a strange sense of comfort when she was with him.

He stepped up the pace and continued to track as best he could.

….

They had been walking for over an hour and the path was growing narrower and more choked with trees and bushes. Not many people were speaking as they all appeared lost in their own thoughts and a little traumatised by what had just happened. The occasional sound of birds screeching over-head, reminded them that life still went on, and leaves and twigs snapped and cracked beneath their feet as they kept up their pace through the tall pines.

Daryl waked along in stony silence, adjusting his cross-bow ready to point and shoot at any time. His whole system was on high alert for any more walkers or danger of any kind. He hadn't spoken a word to anyone since his last brief exchange with Sam. He knew his body-language together with the sullen and blackened expression on his face was making him appear pretty un-approachable.

He couldn't help it, no matter how hard he tried. All he could think about as he marched on, was Sienna. He re-played their last few conversations over in his head again and again, and he wished he could turn back time, and take back what he had said. It had taken a while for him to be able to process it fully, but with each step he took as the day pressed on it was becoming more and more apparent to Daryl that he had been out of line with her - and he just hoped he hadn't fucked things up. He had taken his anger at not being able to get everyone back safely out on her. He had been a dick.

Now she was no-where to be seen and his stomach was churning with a pit of dread and a deep rooted sinking feeling that something must have happened. They would have run into them by now otherwise. No-one else had said anything but he could sense that he wasn't alone in that thinking either. There was a general concern about the whereabouts of the group that had broken off from them earlier that day and what could have happened to them?

Daryl had to believe they would find them though, he didn't think he would be able to carry on if he allowed himself to think anything else. He so desperately wanted to know where Sienna was now. He needed to know that she was safe. He remembered the words she had whispered in his ear once, ' _Don't leave me all alone in this world'! A_ t the time that had meant everything to him, and now he just couldn't get them out of his head. Because ironically that was all he wanted to say to her at this moment- _'Don't leave me all alone in the world, girl. You can't, I won't survive.'_

He walked on faster, his boots crunching heavily into the uneven ground. His body was working on adrenaline, being exhausted from lack of sleep and to make matters even worse he had woken with the painful ache of a strained muscle in his neck from where he had fallen asleep awkwardly sitting up on the back of the truck - which had been getting progressively worse throughout the day. He knew it was a weak spot, and recently Sienna, being skilled in deep tissue massage techniques, would always work it out for him. So right now the discomfort it was causing him was just another stark reminder that she wasn't here by his side, where she should be.

He kicked at some stray stones with his foot violently as his mood darkened and he blamed himself some more for letting her go off without him. At the time he had been pissed and angry - partly about the equipment not working leaving them stranded; partly about his life appearing like a damn romance novel; and then also partly about the thought of her getting too close to Spencer and not needing him any more. But right now he didn't give a damn about any of that, and if she would only appear in front of him again he would tell her that too. He would hold her close to him and he would tell her how sorry he was and how much she meant to him. If anything had happened to her and he hadn't been able to keep her safe he would never forgive himself. She had risked her own life to save his all that time ago when she had brought him back from the dead, and then she had gone on to save it again every single day since. Making him come alive and giving him pleasure in ways he had never thought possible. It wasn't just the physical pleasure either, it was the way she made him feel inside when he was around her, she made him feel safe and when she smiled and looked at him a certain way, it lit up his whole fucking world.

Now that he had found her, he couldn't lose her, he just couldn't. He realised that now.

Still lost in his own tormented thoughts Daryl suddenly caught the flash of a disgusting rotting arm winding around a tree in front of him, and a half eaten face of a walker appeared again zooming in on him. Daryl shot it down straight away without even blinking, his arrow skimmed the side of it's ear but didn't still it completely as it squirmed on the ground by the tree. Daryl darted to it's side to plant a hefty kick into its forehead to silence its snarls. He wasn't content with that though as he lifted his leg to kick it over and over again against the trunk of the tree as hard and fast as he could, taking all his weight and frustrations out on it, until it was just a bloody mushy mess that he was breathlessly and furiously kicking at.

He sensed someone walking beside him, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Carol. His face set into a deep frown, he knew she wouldn't be put off by his actions. He shot her a moody glare before giving it one final hard kick, instantly regretting it as his foot made contact directly with the trunk of the tree and a sharp pain suddenly shot up through him. He'd probably fractured his toe with the force and he reluctantly stumbled back.

"You eaten anything today?" Carol asked gently, putting her hand on his shoulder.

Daryl ignored her, still frowning.

"Here, you at least need to keep your fluids up," Carol continued, and she passed him a full water bottle.

"Thanks," he muttered as he took it, half taking it just to shut her up and half grateful for the reminder to drink.

"Take care of yourself, so you can take care of us," Carol said softly, watching as he unscrewed the lid to take a sip. "She'd want that," Carol added. To everyone else it might look like he was just pissed with their situation, but Carol could tell he was driving himself half-crazy over something else, Sienna. The blonde meant more to him then he was willing to let on, that much was clear from the way he was beating himself up now over her disappearance.

Carol wasn't stupid she could tell they'd had a fight and it was obvious things hadn't been left on great terms - it was also obvious that Daryl wasn't great at dealing with this kind of thing and it was probably all new to him. Carol didn't have the exact facts but she would take a guess that Daryl had probably snapped at Sienna in a mood, possibly showing his more defensive streak for the first time. Maybe Sienna didn't want or know how to deal with that. But Carol didn't dare ask Daryl, she had grown to learn that some things were off limits with him and right now this was one of them. When he was ready, she would talk to him more about it. At this point she could see that he just needed a friend.

Daryl flinched at the reference to Sienna, as he handed Carol back the bottle. He didn't like her tone, it was almost as though Sienna wasn't coming back. But he knew Carol was right, he did need to pull himself together for all their sakes.

TO BE CONTINUED…..

 _ **a/n - Thanks again for reading. Please review :) Next chapter will be up soon, as I can't wait to get it out...I'm completely obsessed with this story at the moment :)!**_


	31. THIRTY ONE

It hadn't taken them long to reach the river after Daryl's angry outburst with the lone stray walker. Thankfully for the group there had just been the one and there hadn't been any more since.

Daryl who had led them this far, was now stood slightly back from the main group, lurking by some trees. His incident beating on the walker had somewhat calmed him slightly allowing him to get a few things out of his system, but he still didn't feel much like interacting with anyone.

The early evening sun was reflecting perfectly off the murky blue water from the small river, and the atmosphere seemed to be eerily serene now that the group - tired, exhausted and hungry - had reached this seemingly peaceful point. Daryl couldn't help but scan the surrounding area intensely with heavy eyes, unable to hide the disappointment etched on his face as he realised there was no sign of Sienna or the others. He had lost their tracks and it didn't appear that they had been here yet either.

Clutching his cross-bow he frowned in the direction of the water, as if un-certain what to say or do next, as images of Sienna came back to him again, her face, her voice, her smell. He hadn't realised it was physically possible to miss someone this much in such a short space of time, and it was starting to make his whole body ache as he remembered the look on her face the last time he had seen her.

His train of thought was suddenly broken by the sight of Maggie and Glenn in front of him, slightly away from the main group too. Maggie was bending over some bushes and it looked as though she was retching, Glenn was stood behind her with his arm on her shoulder with a concerned look on his face. Maggie lifted her head up slightly, covering her mouth as she waved Glenn away with her hand, and Glenn took a few steps back to catch Daryl's eye.

"She okay?" Daryl asked Glenn hesitantly, his voice a little raspy, as his expression turned to one of both concern and curiosity. He suddenly remembered the interaction he had observed between Maggie and Sienna the day before. At the time he had been planning to quiz Sienna on it some more, but then there had been other more urgent things to do, and he had forgotten all about it up until now.

"Yeah," Glenn replied running his hand through his hair, his voice quiet. "I guess you're going to find out soon enough, she's pregnant."

Daryl was speechless for a second, for some reason he hadn't seen that coming. But it wasn't that un-expected, Maggie and Glenn had been together pretty much since the start of all this. It was probably more shocking that it hadn't happened sooner. He felt a tickle in the back of his throat as he coughed and mumbled awkwardly, "Right..umm..okay."

He paused as he tried to think of the best thing to say next, as he studied the weary and stressed look on Glenn's face. This was a pretty big fucking deal. A pregnancy in these times was serious, they all knew that - a new life coming into this screwed up, dangerous world, to nurture and protect. Daryl could feel Glenn's pain, but this wasn't just Glenn's responsibility, it was all of their responsibilities now just like Judith. They were a family, and this was just another reason for Daryl to ensure they all made it back to the safety of the refugee centre and military base soon.

"She need anything?" Daryl asked.

Glenn shot him a grateful look, it felt good to tell someone and not to have to wear the burden of this all on his own, "Just to rest," he replied with a heavy exhale.

Daryl nodded to let Glenn know he understood, and he forced a half smile as if to gesture he was there, he had his back if needed.

Glenn nodded back appreciatively, Daryl was a man of few words but when it came to it he was the most loyal person Glenn had ever met and he knew if he needed anything Daryl would be the first person to step up for them. He turned his attention back to Maggie to walk back over to where she was now stood up.

Daryl watched as Glenn passed his wife some water, and placed his hand tenderly on her upper back. He stayed back, quietly observing them, and he couldn't help but think about how he would feel if it was him in Glenn's situation right now? Up until recently the idea he could get someone pregnant would have been ridiculous to him. But now things in his life were different and he knew he had been careless with Sienna on many occasions and they had never really used anything - she had told him when it was okay or not and he had just taken her word for it. But if they'd slipped up, it would be pretty fucking terrifying and Daryl would be more than a little angry with himself, because he knew more than anything he would probably make a shit father. But somehow despite that more recently, he would never admit it to anyone, but strangely the thought of having something so precious as his own child created the tiniest of flutters in Daryl too.

His hardened, lined eyes softened a little as both Maggie and Glenn made their way over in his direction, and Daryl exchanged a sympathetic look with Maggie. She gave him a weak smile in return and the look on her face told him that she knew _he knew_ , and she was cool with that.

The three of them wandered back over to the main group, where everyone was grouped under the shelter of a few trees to the side of the water. Rick strode over to Daryl immediately, trying to look apologetic his former leader learned in towards him and quietly said, "Listen, it doesn't look like there's any sign anyone's been here. There's not much day-light left so I think we need to keep moving."

With a heavy and reluctant sigh, Daryl shook his head, noticing everyones attention was now on him and Rick and their conversation. "Nah, the others said they'd meet us here." Now that they had got to this point Daryl wasn't about to just give up and leave without a fight. He knew Sienna and he knew Kyle, if they could find a way to get here to them, they would. He just hoped they hadn't gone back to the trucks, or worse. Because they wouldn't stand a chance against all the walkers that had formed back there now.

"Wherever this place is that they were trying to find, _we_ need to find it now. Maybe they're there waiting for us," Rick suggested, his face full of passion as he spoke, he knew that someone needed to talk some sense in to Daryl here, and make him see some reason. Rick was sorry Daryl's girl wasn't here but they had the rest of the group to think of.

"We just need to wait here a bit longer," Daryl insisted, his voice rough and determined. He didn't want to have to insist that he stayed back here alone and waited, because he knew the group should stay together, but if it came to it he would.

"Okay," Rick jerked his head once, he sensed he was hitting a real nerve. The beautiful woman that Daryl had returned with really meant something to him, Rick could see that and he sympathised, he really did, but Rick also knew they didn't have much time either. They couldn't wait here forever.

In the distance Judith started to cry and Rick turned his attention to where Michonne was bouncing his daughter up and down in her toned arms. He quickly walked over to them, leaving Daryl alone again in silence.

Minutes later, all Daryl could do was still stand motionless against a tree with his head bowed. His chest hurt as he started to realise that Rick was right they did need to move on. He had put all his hope in finding Sienna by this river, and now he was crushed to find that she wasn't here, he had no idea where she was. Daryl knew the only way to navigate around now was under the sun and soon that would disappear under the horizon, leaving them cold and lost under the few night stars. They didn't have much choice.

He felt a soft hand touch his shoulder and he looked up expecting it to be Carol, to see that it was actually Amelia. The serious look in her dark eyes reflected his own and it caused Daryl to tense up.

"She's going to be okay," Amelia said in an unusually soft voice. "She's way tougher than she looks, you know that, and Kyle, he's not going to let anything happen to her," she added with a smile to try and lighten things up a little.

Daryl nodded slowly in agreement, "Yup."

He looked away with heavy eyes as he considered what Amelia had just said. Sienna wasn't here as he'd hoped, but he knew he wouldn't stop looking for her, he wouldn't let that spark of hope become extinguished. He looked to the flowing water and he remembered the last time he had been by a river with her the night they had spent in the grounds of the stately home, and she had gotten both their clothes wet and they'd had to strip off. It was weird how the little things like that were actually the things that he'd come to remember as being the best things. ' _You're out there somewhere, girl, I know you are. Someone as good as you doesn't just disappear,_ ' he thought to himself, Amelia was right she was going to be okay. They all were. He had to believe that.

He turned back to look at Amelia, "Jeez.. what the hell?" she suddenly blurted out, as her expression changed and the distinct sound of gun-shots could be heard going off in the distance.

Daryl quickly found himself in a state of frantic panic as he raised his cross-bow, looking around to see Rick and the rest of the group had followed suit too, ready with their weapons for danger.

"Hey, they're through here," a male voice suddenly called out. It took Daryl a moment to register that it was Spencer, as he appeared from the direction of the forest, looking a little worse for wear with a small cut on his forehead and slightly torn clothes. Spencer was followed by Trent and the two soldiers. The three men were immediately surrounded by all of the group that had been with Daryl by the river, everyone excited and desperate to know what was going on. "It's okay, we just had to take down a couple of stray walker's, nothing else," Spencer explained looking from Rick, over to Daryl with strained eyes.

Daryl looked around expectantly, praying to see Sienna's face.

Then finally after hours of hoping and wishing, Daryl's eye found her. She was walking a little behind the others next to Kyle, but to Daryl's relief she looked relatively okay, a little wearier than when he had seen her earlier that morning and she had her jacket off and wrapped around one arm, but okay none the less. He quickly made his way over to her, the closer he got the quicker his pace became. His heart was pounding in his chest and the pressure almost stopped him from breathing.

Sam, Louie and Amelia, also eager to speak to Sienna and Kyle dashed over towards them too, to frantically find out where they had been and what they had found. Everything in Daryl wanted to shove them all out of the way so he could throw his arms around her and hold her tightly to him, he'd never had anyone like her in his life before and the sensation right now was slightly overwhelming. But instead he just stood there next to them all. Sienna looked over at him immediately and their glances met, her big expressive blue eyes locked with his own emotion filled blue ones, and Daryl felt an incredible sense of relief, _it was still there_ , their connection was still very much alive.

Sienna felt a sudden tingle of butterflies, to see Daryl's reaction at seeing her. A flicker of light had formed in his eyes, followed by the faintest of smiles, telling her he was pleased to see her, that he was sorry for their fight earlier that day.

"You're bleeding," Amelia suddenly exclaimed. Breaking the moment between Sienna and Daryl as everyone turned to see that there was blood oozing from the arm Sienna had wrapped in her jacket.

"Y'okay?" Daryl asked with concern, still standing back a little, as he held back on what he really wanted to say and do at that moment.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just a cut," she dismissed, blinking her blues.

"We ran into some trouble, there are more infected around here than we realised, we had to escape down a creek," Kyle explained.

"Sounds like you've had nearly as much fun as we have," Sam cut in.

"I'm going to need to treat this," Amelia said with her head down, from where she had already removed Sienna's jacket and was examining the wound on her arm. It looked bad and would need to be cleaned and sutured.

"Daryl," It was Rick calling, and Daryl turned his head to see Rick waving him over to where he was having a group conversation with Trent, Spencer and a few others. Daryl took another look at Sienna to see she was busy talking to Amelia now. A little reluctantly he turned to walk in Rick's direction away from them, to leave them to it. He knew he was needed in more pressing issues right now. Sienna was back and she was safe, that was the main thing and the enormous weight that had taken off his troubled mind was apparent as he re-joined Rick and the others with a more confident and composed look on his face, "Whats going on?" he asked.

"We think we found the camp," Spencer said looking directly at Daryl.

Daryl half wanted to scowl back at him, because he still just couldn't warm to him, but he knew he had to try and be civil here. "Okay, where?" he responded.

"Not far, a mile maybe, we can all head there together now," Spencer replied in a friendly tone, although he could detect the contempt from Daryl's face.

"We don't know what we might find, so we need to plan this through carefully first," Rick stressed, his face deadly serious, he was more than a little wary after the day they'd had so far.

"If there are people there, they can help us," Daryl responded. "They won't be a threat," he looked to Trent to back him up, and the soldier nodded in agreement.

"That's as may be, but we still need to air on caution," Rick insisted. He wasn't taking any chances.

* * *

"You want me to numb it, before I start the sutures?" Amelia asked from where she was crouched down next to Sienna on the river-bed. Having just cleaned Sienna's wound she was now about to start work on stitching it to close it up immediately. It was deeper than she had first thought and would turn nasty if she didn't treat it straight away.

"No, it's fine," Sienna said quickly. She knew it would sting like a bitch, but she didn't want to have to waste any more time than they had to.

"Okay then," Amelia said with a shrug.

"Aaah…" Sienna winced as her friend set to work. She clenched her other fist and looked away and out at the running river trying to focus on something to take away the pain.

"So what the hell happened?" Amelia asked as she worked fast and with skill.

"Could ask you the same thing," Sienna responded. Not wanting to talk about how she had taken a stupid chance that hadn't played off and if it hadn't had been for Kyle saving her ass, she wouldn't be here now.

"Ah, we just got set upon by a hoard of infected, they nearly ate us all alive and forced us to run for our lives into the forest, it was no big deal," Amelia said with a dry smile.

"Shit, really? Is everyone okay?" Sienna gasped. She had been so relieved to see Daryl and her friends that she hadn't accounted for everyone else, or had time to hear their story.

Amelia's face turned more sombre as she looked up from what she was doing for a moment and her eyes became sad, "We lost a few people back there, some of the older people on the trucks that couldn't fight, they didn't make it," she said seriously, before she looked back down at Sienna's arm. "But most people made it. Bear Grylls got us all here safely," Amelia added with a little twinkle in her eye, she could practically hear Sienna's heart-beat spiking at the mention of his name.

"You got yourself a good one there," Amelia added, smiling to herself now at how she was firing up her friend with the mention of Daryl.

"Really?" Sienna muttered with a sudden roll of her eyes, as she couldn't help but think back to their last exchange back by the trucks. When Daryl had behaved like a prick. It was great to see him after the day they'd all had, but she couldn't just forget how cold he had been to her before she had left him earlier, how he had behaved like such a moody ass, and how that had made her feel. It had made her question a few things whilst she had been away from him.

"Done," Amelia exclaimed as she put the suture kit away and fumbled around for a dressing in her pack of precious medical supplies.

"I don't know what went down between you," Amelia started, as she tore the wrapper off the dressing and pressed it to Sienna's exposed skin, causing her to wince again. "But he's been going half crazy, worrying himself sick about you all day. He tried not to let on but it was obvious to everyone to see," Amelia said as she carefully smoothed down the edges of the dressing. "He's not perfect, none of us are, but he's got it _bad_ for you and he'd do anything for you, he's got a good heart."

Sienna flinched at hearing her friend saying something so surprisingly out of character for Amelia - and nice about Daryl too, and Sienna broke into a small smile, because deep down Sienna knew Amelia was right, Daryl was flawed, but then weren't they all? At the core he was a good man. The type of man that got everyone out of danger and put his life on the line to lead them to safety. Her eyes fluttered shut for a moment as she thought about him, she could almost smell him as she recalled his light tender kisses on her skin, with his strong earthy manly scent that drove her so wild, evoking a sudden physical response in her without him even being near her.

"Hey," she suddenly heard his voice say for real, causing her to quickly open her eyes to see he had appeared next to where she and Amelia were sat.

"Y'okay?" he asked her again for the second time that day, and there was no way to miss the tenderness in the way his words were delivered, and it made Sienna feel….loved. His eyes so full of concern and emotion, said it all. He looked a little apprehensive, tense even, but she could tell one thing, that he wanted to be here with her, to make things right between them maybe. It wasn't like earlier when he had been so distant.

She nodded and bit down on her lip hard to stall the threat of tears, as her eyes welled with a sudden and intense emotion too.

"There, she's all yours," Amelia announced as she smoothed down the final edge of the dressing and quickly snapped off her gloves. "She'll be fine now," she added glancing at Daryl, as she picked up her things to go back to the others and give them some privacy.

...

Daryl put his hand up to rub the scrap of beard on his chin, and he perched down on the side of the river next to Sienna without taking his eyes away from her face. He couldn't control his loving stare from her wide sapphire blue eyes, framed perfectly by the thick blonde hair flowing out of it's messy pony tail and over her shoulders.

Sienna smiled at seeing how his tired worn expression transformed at seeing her. Her arms flew up and around his neck, and all frustrations she'd had with him seemed to quickly vanish in the moment as her body collided into his. She winced slightly as his strong arm caught her wounded one, but the slight pain it caused died under the firm pressure of his lips as he kissed her.

Scarcely able to allow himself to believe she was real again, that this was really happening again, Daryl sighed into her mouth. He reached his hand around to cup the side of her cheek, brushing her soft skin with his rough thumb. His shoulders sagged in relief, his thoughts at that point were focused on one thing, _Sienna is here and she's safe._

Both sensing the hint of relaxation in the other, the kiss increased. Sienna opened her mouth a little wider and teased her tongue against his, as the edges of his long hair tickled the side of her face along with the scratchy feel of his stubble and beard. Daryl let go and allowed himself to enjoy the brief moment of happiness.

He had so much he wanted to say to her, starting with an apology for being a jerk, but right now all he could do was put his all into kissing her instead, as he tried to allow his actions to speak for him. He hadn't meant it. He didn't want to lose her. In his own way, he _loved_ her.

Eventually they reluctantly drew their mouths apart needing air. Sienna's eyes were bright with pleasure as she noticed a bashful smile spread across Daryl's features. Being with a woman like this was still a fairly alien concept for him. He didn't just partake in passionate kisses lightly. He was out of his comfort zone.

"Are you okay?" She asked him this time.

"I am now," he reassured in a gravelly voice, making her smile again.

Sienna sighed and her face became more serious, she was over-come with tiredness and raw emotion. Despite everything going on, all she wanted at that point was to run her hands under Daryl's shirt and draw him close to her, she wanted to taste his lips on hers again, and she wanted to feel his hardness inside her to connect them in the best way possible. But she knew there was no time for anything like that. They had to move on now, and fast.

"We have to get everyone to the camp," she said placing her hand lovingly on his thigh.

"Yeah," Daryl agreed, there was a lot to catch up on but it would have to wait. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Rick approaching them.

"You ready?" Rick asked Daryl, as he carefully eyed Sienna. He had only known her a short time but Rick was glad to see she was back with them and that she was okay.

Daryl stood up, and Sienna quickly followed. "Yeah we're ready," he replied…

…

The natural light was fading fast as they carried on through the forest path. Daryl was careful to walk closely beside Sienna this time, for the first time since they had gotten back with his original group he wanted to put her first and make sure she was near to him. The thought of losing her had shaken him and made him realise just how much she really meant to him.

Everyone was tired but in better spirits as the stumbled on through the un-even ground, Daryl was happy to let Kyle and Trent take the lead this time as he and Sienna followed closely behind sharing a casual conversation. As they walked Sienna's shoulder would bump into his arm, and he didn't widen the distance as if inviting her to lean further into him. The sight of them, made it very apparent to all of Daryl's original group that they were very much a couple in every sense. However much of a surprise that might be to the people Daryl had survived with for the past two years, when he had seemed to show little interest in women in that way.

He had fallen for her.

…

A short while later they finally saw the glimmer of light in the distance as they approached the edge of the holiday camp set deep in the camouflage of the forest greenery. There was a large sign at the entrance, ' _Welcome to Four Oaks Summer Camp',_ with the smiling face of a beaver to the side of the writing, chillingly it was partially covered in what looked like some sort of dark-red blood stain.

The fences surrounding the camp were covered in barbed wire, with sandbags and tires looking to have been placed strategically around to barricade the place in, a gesture to keep the infected out, as this was technically still a 'red-zone'. There was also a gate at the entrance that had been left open, allowing them easy access.

Immediately Sienna exchanged a worried look with Daryl, apart from the dim lights around the entrance and along the sides of the path leading up to what appeared to be the main building, the whole place appeared to be quiet and so far deserted. Just like the check point back by the vans had been too. There were no armed guards at the entrance looking to check their ID passes and scan their wrists. No vehicles parked inside, no lights from anywhere further in - just nothing.

"Come on," Daryl said moving first, "Let's check inside."….

TO BE CONTINUED...

 _ **A/N - Thanks for reading. As per usual with this story, this chapter became too long, so it's split into two again - with the second half up soon :) (Which may include a little sweet smut ;)**_


	32. THIRTY TWO

Daryl took the lead as they proceeded through the double doors. They were painted a faded racing car green, and there were a few bullet holes visible at the top of them. He glanced back to exchange a look with Sienn _a, this wasn't good'!_

He crept on with caution and stealth, his cross-bow raised and ready to fire at any point. Daryl was getting all too used to this kind of thing now, his reactions were super fast, if anything living or dead was to emerge he would knock it down in seconds. He waved with his other hand to signal to the rest of the group to keep following, the path was clear.

They carried on slowly and silently.

The air inside the building was different. Daryl couldn't put his finger on why for a moment. Then it occurred to him - the smell of sweat and death was gone again, just like back at the UN base the world felt like normal again. But this place was just walls and floors, there was no extended community here.

Sienna was just behind him, she was carefully looking around, her eyes wide alert as she cast her flashlight around, letting the beam linger on the empty front check-point. There was no armed guard. She darted to the communication system, picking up the phone to discover it had been disconnected.

"Nothing," she said, sharing a concerned look with Daryl.

She picked up the radio system to fiddle with it as a green light came on and a message was suddenly played through some kind of speaker system, and at the same time some sort of back up generator kicked in to light the place up with fluorescent lighting.

 _"To all inhabitants of check point 303 Four Oaks, stay where you are and await further instructions. I repeat stay where you are and await further instructions."_ The message played on a loop several times as Sienna exchanged another look with Daryl, confused and concerned.

She looked back to see pretty much everyone was sharing the same bewildered expression. Wide-eyed and curious. All of Daryl's original group in particular, were not used to hearing broadcasts like this.

"It's okay, it just a means of communicating with everyone," Sienna explained. "They probably left it on for anyone arriving here."

"So, where'd everyone go?" Daryl asked in a low, gravelly voice, vocalising what everyone else was thinking.

Sienna shook her head, "Dunno."

"You think it's safe to stay here?" Rick asked coming up behind them.

"There will be food here and beds, we might as well stay and wait it out for the night," Sienna suggested, her gaze resting on Daryl's face.

Daryl paused as he debated that thought for a moment, his instinct was telling him she was right they all needed to rest and re-charge, and he didn't think they would find anywhere safer, but the stubborn survivalist streak in him was saying that they should press on and try and find a road and vehicles. If it was just him, or him and Rick even, that was exactly what he would do, but it wasn't just him, he had the welfare of all of the group to think of, and he knew what was best for them now.

He nodded once flicking his head to adjust his long hair, "Yeah, we'll check out the rest of the place, if it's clear we stay here over-night," he agreed. It was dark outside now, there was realistically no-where else for them to go. Everyone was exhausted and this place seemed secure, any infected would have appeared by now and if the absent soldiers running it did happen to return, it would only be a good thing, because they were on the same side at the end of the day. Weren't they?

He could sense both Sienna and Rick were eyeing him, so he jerked his head indicating for them to move on further in.

Daryl, Rick, Sienna and the lead solider Trent, moved on in to check the place out whilst the rest of the group waited just inside the entrance.

The main hall had been converted into large living quarters with rows of temporary beds and a few tables and chairs. At one end there was a bar with a narrow door which they found led back to a kitchen. The first thing they saw was some empty bottles and un-washed plates stacked up to the side. Next to that there was shelves of dehydrated/non perishable food items. MREs, Ramen noodles, canned food, granola, beef jerky, and candy bars. Along with litres of clean drinking water and a means of getting more with filter kits, and purification tablets. To Rick it was too good to be true, to Daryl and Sienna it was just normal.

Further down the long hallway they found there were several doors leading into smaller rooms, most had twin or bunkbeds in them. Others had boxes stacked up with numerous different types of useful supplies. Batteries, matches, cleaning fluids, glow sticks, shovels, maps and compasses, flashlights, rope, tarp and first aid kits. Along with some more non-essential items - spare clothing, paper towels and garbage bags, decks of cards and some paperback novels. There was also a back room stocking rifles and shot-guns, with numerous rounds of amo, machetes and hatchets.

Rick's eyes widened, as he darted through to start stashing as many weapons as he could into his back-pack, this place was a dream, there was everything they could possibly need. He looked back to see Daryl hadn't joined him in hoarding. Rick stopped what he was doing and shot Daryl a puzzled stare. The world was becoming weirder by the minute. Why the hell was this place abandoned?

"What the hell is this?" Rick asked.

"There's lots of these places," Daryl replied. "They're set up by the UN military and US government, whats left of it."

Daryl knew to Rick and the others it would be almost impossible to get their head around straight away. But Daryl had had longer to get used to the new world. The fact that this place was so well set up wasn't a surprise to Daryl, the fact it was empty however, was!

"They mind if we clean them out?" Rick asked curiously in a tone that indicated it wouldn't stop him even if they did.

Daryl lowered his cross-bow, he looked from Rick to Sienna, then on to Trent who had accompanied them to check things out, and was the solider amongst them.

"Think that's the least of our worries," Trent said.

"Well, don't look like anyones coming back anytime soon, so knock yourself out," Daryl turned back to Rick to remark. He had to admit having all these extra weapons was a tremendous peace of mind if nothing else.

...

"We should get back to the others," Sienna said to Daryl as they both finished joining Rick in re-stocking their supplies of ammo and guns as much as they physically could.

Daryl nodded, they could come back here with more people later before they left to take more.

* * *

Later that night the whole group was huddled together in the main hall.

Daryl wasn't saying a lot, he was satisfied the place was secure and bunking down here for the night was the best thing to do given the circumstances. He was slouching with his back against the wall and his knees up, his head was down as he chewed on some food. Sienna was sat to the side of him, and his body language and proximity to her was strategically placed to indicate what she was to him. _His girl. His lover._ He wasn't messing about anymore, he'd found something and he wanted in his own awkward way to show that to everyone.

Not many people were talking as everyone quietly ate and relaxed for the first time that day. Allowing themselves to kick back and take a break from the constant fight to survive. Perhaps moments like this where they had found a little well deserved comfort, were what the fight was all about. Living.

"Y'know before the world went to shit, I was posted to Europe for a bit when I was in the military -Germany, England, Italy," Abraham said loudly trying to spark up a conversation, as his flushed red face studied Sienna curiously from where he was sat next to Rosita, opposite Sienna and Daryl, with the rest of Daryl's original group close by. "I liked England but it was a little cold for my liking, rained a lot when I was there."

"Yeah it does that," Sienna responded with a small smile.

"Maybe I should have stayed there in hindsight….. maybe the rain keeps the dead away," Abraham added with a faint attempt at humour before he started to get too melancholic thinking about his old life.

"You planning to get your sweet ass back there?" Abraham questioned loudly with a flirty grin, still looking at Sienna, his voice the only thing breaking the silence in the large echoey room as everyone still carried on eating and drinking in relative silence. Rosita who had been chewing with her head down and her face partly covered by her cap, made a sound of mock disapproval and swiped at his arm.

Sienna looked at him, she hadn't taken offence to his brash tone, as she just shrugged, "Maybe some day," she answered honestly. It made her a little uncomfortable, but it was only natural people would wonder these things, like what the hell she was doing over here anyway? A lot of the time she wondered that herself, she wasn't perfect she'd made many mistakes and sometimes she wondered if she would ever find where she really belonged.

She shivered and hugged her navy hooded sweater a little tighter around herself, "Think we should focus on getting out of here first," she said, forcing a wider smile, and Abraham smiled straight back at her. Her sparkling, blue-eyed smile was infectious. A real beauty.

Sienna's eyes slid sideways to where Daryl was sat. They weren't visibly touching but the fabric of his trousers was skimming her leg. She could tell that his attention was all on her, even though he was trying to act casual. He had purposefully sat as close to her as he could, a gesture that despite the coldness of the room, created a comforting warmth in her.

Daryl swiped his hair out of his eyes with the back of his right hand and looked up, catching Abraham's eye for a second. The older guy might be enjoying a bit of flirty banter with Sienna but he knew she was Daryl's girl here. There was an un-spoken understanding there. Abraham had a roving eye for the ladies, but on this occasion he knew when to back off.

A light conversation then started up, as Glenn with Maggie's head resting on his shoulder described the time he had travelled to Europe on a gap year after school, and Tara, Kyle and Maggie swapped stories about summer camps in similar buildings to the one that they were staying in now, back in a time when things had been very different, the large hall they were sat in now would have been filled with laughter, playful sunny days and mischievous nights, back then in a different life.

Daryl still didn't have much to say. But it was nice hearing his old group more relaxed, laughing even. He had become used to that from Sienna and her friends, but being back amongst his own people had reminded him how serious everything always was with them. There had been little time for down-time, survival always being their number one priority. But since he had found his newer friends Daryl had come to see that in order to really have any chance of surviving, you had to have something worth surviving for. A life out of the darkness.

In the here and now in this strange building, it was almost as though the group had forgotten about the horrors of the day, and the uncertainty that awaited them. The vibe was more relaxed, and maybe that was just what they needed to allow themselves to believe in something better away from their home in Alexandria.

"Well if you'll excuse us, think we're going to get some sleep," Maggie stretched out her arms and said to the group as she pulled her nearly asleep legs up to standing from beneath her. She and Glenn had taken claim to one of the smaller rooms with twin beds earlier, and she was looking forward to some decent rest.

...

Sienna flashed Daryl a small glance, as she let out a loud yawn hinting she was tired too and wanted to go to bed. It was getting late and most of their combined larger group were now looking to break apart and make moves to settle down for the night, mostly in the main hall but with a few like Maggie and Glenn moving off into the side rooms. Sienna knew Daryl would probably feel responsible to take on the task of staying up all night, patrolling the area to keep everyone safe, but she could tell from the weariness in his eyes that he needed to rest just as much, if not more, than the rest of them did. It had been a heavy few days since they had left their home on the east coast.

"Well, night everyone," Sienna said, as she Sam and Louie stood up to head to the smaller rooms to get some rest too. She shook the electric pins and needles feeling from her feet from where they had been tucked under her, and she didn't need to look back at Daryl, even though he hadn't moved she could tell his gaze was fixed on her from behind his hair as he still remained seated by the wall.

Daryl's slanted dark blue eyes watched as Sienna flashed a polite but tired smile to the people around them, before she looked to head off for the night. She paused and stretched her arms above her head, sending a subtle tingling to his groin with the sight of her perfect breasts outlined by her hooded sweater. A suppressed feeling she had released in him since they had met.

She started to walk slowly behind her two friends and work colleagues, and Daryl knew she wanted him to follow her. Hesitantly he got up, he knew there was realistically no way he was going to let her sleep alone now. He was done giving a damn what anyone thought, he wanted them to know the score. It was just Abraham, Rosita, Tara, Kyle and Eugene left. With Carol and Sasha sat slightly off to the side. Rick had moved away to check on Carl from where he was being cared for by Amelia in one of the beds at the end of the hall. Daryl jerked his head at the group in a good-night gesture as he joined Sienna, noticing her lips flickering into a small smile as they started walking.

They stopped at the entrance to the hall and Daryl glanced back across the room to where Rick was sat by Carl's bed not far away. "Just give me a sec," he mumbled to Sienna in a hushed voice.

Quietly in the now dimly lit hall, Daryl approached his friend and former leader. Amelia had managed to set up an IV drip for Carl, who was lying back on the crisp white sheets of the temporary bed with his eyes closed. Hopefully the infection was under control again. It was hard for Daryl to see the boy like that and with a heavy heart he looked to Rick, Y'okay, man?" He asked in a low serious voice.

Rick stood up, his eyes shifted from Carl in the bed to Daryl. The stress was all too visible on Rick's lined face. He'd had to take more on his shoulders than any man should ever have to over the course of the past few years. Daryl knew that. "Yeah," Rick nodded solemnly.

"How's he doing?" Daryl asked, glancing back at Carl.

"Okay for now," Rick replied, the fight in him from earlier had drained along with colour in his cheeks. Daryl was acutely aware of how fatigued Rick was as his friend half closed his eyes and brought his hands wearily up to his face. Rick needed to find some peace soon, that much was evident. But Daryl knew Rick wouldn't rest, not properly until he knew they were all safe. "I'm going to stay up for a bit, sit here with him," Rick said in a softer voice.

Daryl paused and blinked a couple of times, as he wondered whether he should offer to stay up too. He put his hand up to rub the back of his head. "Y'don't have to. The place is as secure as can be, Trent's guys are keeping watch in shifts," he said quietly. "He don't look like he's gonna wake up anytime soon," he added, referring back to Carl sleeping in the bed.

"Thanks, but all the same I think I'll stay here," Rick responded.

"Okay, well, I'm gonna.." Daryl mumbled a little awkwardly as his gaze instinctively moved back to where Sienna was still stood waiting for him by the door, she was fiddling with the hem of her sweater and she looked up at the exact same time as he did to meet his eye.

Rick gave Daryl a faint smile, noticing the way he was looking at Sienna, "You go ahead," he said patting him on the arm. Daryl had more than taken the brunt of the past few days, he deserved some down-time now. Rick would be lying if he said he wasn't slightly jealous of the fact that Daryl was heading off to bed down with a pretty girl for the night, but he knew Daryl needed and deserved that, so he'd get no objection from Rick.

"Thanks," Daryl muttered. His eyes creased at the corners as his attention was focused all on Sienna now and he moved away from Rick and back over to her side ready to make their way into one of the smaller side rooms for the night.

...

It was dark as they made their down the hallway, Daryl felt himself pressing his body protectively against Sienna's as they walked. He did a quick final sweep of the area with his eyes before they shuffled into the small room Sienna had purposefully thrown their bags down into earlier that night, after they had arrived and the decision had been made to wait the night out here.

...

Daryl sunk down on to one of the narrow beds and let out a deep exhale. _They had made it this far._

His creased eyes seemed to widen a little as he brushed the long hair sweeping over his brow to one side, so he could study Sienna properly.

They were alone again.

Sienna bit down on her lip as she tugged her hooded sweater over her head ready to find something else to change into and sleep in. Her heart was pounding as her shaky fingers placed it down on the floor, this was the first time she and Daryl had been together like this since the night at Alexandria which seemed like a lifetime ago now. Sleeping next to him was a luxury she had thought she might not get again. Despite how much he had pissed her off earlier that morning and how mad at him she had been all day, she couldn't simply turn off her feelings and the excitement that being close to him evoked in her. They could have all died today and that thought alone made her growing feelings for him all the more powerful.

Daryl was still silently watching her from where he was sat on the bed, pondering his next move. He owed her an apology that much he was sure of. Things seemed okay between them, but there was still a little un-spoken tension that needed to be resolved.

"Come here," he said in a deep rough voice. His eyes still fixed on her face.

Sienna stopped what she was doing to give him her full attention. The way he was looking at her sent a shiver straight down her spine. The next thing she did was slowly move towards him, close enough for him to grab hold of her hand. He pulled her gently towards him so that she could climb into his lap, and her long legs wrapped around his lean waist, as she found herself resting her face on his shoulder as they both let out an exhale of relief. It had been a long day.

Daryl found his fingers gently caressing her back as he lowered his own face to bury it into the soft sweet smelling skin of her neck, and a familiar instant tingle of arousal jolted through his dick with the closeness of her body to his. _How could he have nearly lost this?_

Still without words he ran his rough palms over the bare skin on her upper arms, feeling the prickly sensation of the raised bumps from where she was cold without her sweater. He stopped as he reached the edge of the dressing over her wound. "It hurt?" He mumbled into her neck in his gravelly voice.

"Mmmm.." she responded, trying to play it down, she didn't want to seem like a big wuss when she knew people had obtained far worse injuries than she had on this occasion. Even though the pain-killers Amelia had given her earlier were now wearing off and the pain from it was starting to get pretty bad again.

Daryl gulped as a surge of emotion rocketed through him all of a sudden. "I'm a dick," he stated gruffly.

He moved his head back to look at her face, and their eyes met as they both tried to work out exactly what the other was thinking.

Sienna didn't respond for a few seconds. She was stubborn too and part of her wanted him to feel guilty for the hurt she had experienced at his cruel behaviour.

"Nah, you're not," she eventually said slowly, because she knew that this was his way of apologising for earlier, for being so cold and moody and acting like he didn't give a shit.

Sienna wasn't thrilled that they'd had their first fight over pretty much nothing, but it had happened and right now they had to move past it. There were bigger things at stake than hurt pride and resentment. She knew Daryl well enough now to see that he was never going to be the type of man to talk openly about how he was feeling, instead when he felt insecure, jealous or angry about something, he'd lash out. It didn't make him all bad, just flawed. It was part of who he was. Something he or they, would have to work on another time. Because Sienna knew it was small steps with him, simply opening up to her as much as he had was a big deal for him, he wasn't going to just change over night.

He put his hand up to touch her face. "Nah, I shouldn't have just let you go off like that. It's my fault…You aint used to…"

She put her finger up to his lips, "Ssshh.." stalling his speech. He didn't have to say this. "You're not responsible for me, Daryl. The only person to blame for me getting hurt is _me!_ I can take care of myself better than you think. _"_

He didn't say anything, something about the way she was touching him was producing a subtle vulnerability in him. He had never relied on anyone for anything, but maybe now, slowly, he was starting to rely on her. Her comfort, and her unconditional love and respect.

Sienna's eyes widened and she playfully traced her finger over his mouth, lightening the heaviness and slight tension that was lingering in the air. Daryl groaned, trying in vain to control the primitive instincts that were urging him on. He hadn't intended for this here, but the pain in his groin was starting to become unbearable.

"I don't deserve ya," he muttered, looking at her through the hair falling into his emotion filled eyes.

"Don't say that," she replied. "I'm not perfect, Daryl."

 _'Yeah you are',_ he thought to himself silently, as he looked at her.

He moved his forehead up to touch hers, increasing the contact between them. He had never been this intimate with anyone before, it was un-nerving but starting to become wonderful at the same time.

They stayed like that for a few moments, until Daryl tilted his head back and reached up with his hand to tangle his fingers into the side of her silky blonde hair. He moved his rough lips in to find hers as he started to kiss her. Pressing his chest against the curve of her breasts. Lust outweighing their tiredness at this point. He seemed to kiss her with such need and passion and unspoken love that Sienna couldn't help the tears forming in her eyes, thinking about how things could so easily have worked out differently for them.

She closed her eyes for a moment as the kiss became more urgent and frenzied, releasing some of the tension that had been brewing between them, and she felt the hard lump of his erection through his jeans, making her tingle with arousal. Daryl grabbed hold of the fabric of her top to yank it up and over her head, breaking the kiss, and Sienna shook her hair out if it's pony-tail completely to let it fall around her naked shoulders as she undid the clasp to her bra and they both tumbled backwards. Both their clothing quickly shed in the process.

The bed was clearly old as the springs creaked under their combined weight. Daryl shuddered as he inhaled her scent, his hand brushed up and down her spine, lingering on her lower back. He gently kissed down her neck leaving butterfly kisses on her collar bone. He had never thought he could make love to a woman like this. She spread her legs as he rolled on top of her, and she arched her hips to increase the pressure and friction making him groan. Feeling his hardness even closer she let out a small ecstatic moan, knowing it was all for her pleasure. His fingers were soon between her legs and she gasped remembering how good a simple touch from him could make her feel. She moved her hands up to his scarred shoulders scraping his skin with her nails to pull him even closer, as she thrust up against his hand asking for more as her breathing picked up.

A grin spread across Daryl's face behind his hair as he carefully gauged her reaction to his touch, making sure to work hard to give her the ultimate satisfaction. He wanted her just as much as she wanted him and he was pleasuring her in every way he could think of and the thought of having her trembling with pleasure under his hands was enough to have him shudder in ecstasy.

It wasn't long before he was thrusting deep inside her. Gone was the gentleness of his previous caress now he wasn't holding back at all, it was wild and animalistic, and from the way she was murmuring and panting he could tell she was loving every minute of the hard rough thrusts he was giving her. ' _I need you so fuckin much girl,_ ' Daryl thought to himself as he buried his face in her hair and concentrated on fucking her. It felt so so good. This wasn't about making slow sensual love in the comfort of their big bed back at Sienna's place at the base, for both of them this was about full on desire and a much needed release right here in the middle of hell, and it was also about feeling needed and wanted, and sealing their closeness and deep connection together again. The way the world seemed to stand still and they could shut everything out but the sounds of their joint pleasure. In that brief moment, it was just them, nothing else. She was his and he was hers only.

Daryl found himself looking deeply into her shimmering blue eyes again as his body started to stiffen and he could feel his orgasm building. Sienna sensed his imminent release and her own body tensed as she gently pushed at his groin with the palm of her hand, and her eyes widened in a desperate un-spoken communication with him before it was too late. Picking up on her signs, Daryl used every ounce of will-power he had to quickly pull out of her just in time, letting out a deep throaty groan as he spurted up with impressive acceleration straight on to her chest, shoulder, and into the side of her hair.

His cheeks flushed as he let out a boyish, partly proud and partly bashful grin, allowing his hair to fall into his eyes again.

Sienna let out a small awkward laugh, she was really just relieved that he had pulled out in time, seeing as right now was her most fertile time of the month, and Maggie's pregnancy had really made her think, she wouldn't want to be in that position, they had to be careful. She knew they had to get their hands on some proper contraception soon.

"Here," Daryl said, reaching down to find and hand her the hanky from the back pocket of his discarded trousers on the floor, with an amused grin still on his face.

" _Thanks,"_ Sienna said, catching his eyes to raise a brow and grin back at him as she secretly hoped the shampoo she had stashed in her back-pack hadn't leaked and there would somehow be a chance to wash her hair before they hit the road again the next morning.

...

The room was almost completely dark as Sienna lay back to rest her weary head on his chest. Daryl found his hand resting on the curve of her back, he was completely at ease now with allowing her to cuddle up to him after sex, a concept that for so long he had thought would be impossible for him.

"I'm glad we found you," she whispered against the soft sweaty hairs on his chest. All the hurt and resentment from their fight earlier having disappeared now along with the deepening sexual tension from earlier.

"Yeah, me too," Daryl replied seriously as he found himself instinctively placing a tender kiss on her head, finding her fingers to wind into his.

 _"Love you girl,"_ he quickly added, before he had any control over stopping himself. Like it was the most natural thing in the world. Like they weren't words he'd never said to anyone else before in his life. Ever. But it was there and he had said it, he couldn't deny it anymore, the intense and warm fuzzy feeling he had come to realize was romantic love. Daryl was starting to see that he didn't have to hold it back anymore and he didn't have to feel guilty for being happy for once in his life, now that he was back against his old group again with all their joint nightmares and hardships. He was allowed to have something good.

Sienna's heart skipped a beat to hear him say that for the first time. That was a huge deal for him. _Huge_. "Love you too, Dixon," she replied playfully, letting him know the feeling was still mutual and he wasn't alone with his new found feelings.

Neither of them needed to speak again after that, as they both enjoyed the feeling of being relaxed and complete, of having found something in this shitty terrible world they had been thrown into that was good, more than good, fucking amazing!

…..

Daryl's eyes were closed and he was almost asleep as he heard the sound of footsteps walking along the hallway outside their door. The next thing he heard was Eugene's voice, "You think we should ask Daryl?"

"Nah, I wouldn't disturb him now if you know what's good for you," it was Sam, or maybe Louie that responded. Then it all went quiet.

Daryl would have gotten up to investigate, but his relaxed, heavy limbs were past the point of letting him. It didn't sound urgent, so it would have to wait till the morning when Daryl knew it would be business as usual again.

 _ **A/N - Thanks so much for reading and staying with the story. I hope you enjoyed the more light end to the chapter, before there is more chaos in store for them! Please review if you can I would love to hear from you :)**_


	33. THIRTY THREE

_**A/N - Thanks for the reviews for the last chapter :) Your support is so appreciated and has helped me so much with writing this story get to where it is!**_

* * *

Daryl was busy working outside alongside the rising sun, sorting out ammo with Rick, Abraham, Sasha and Trent. He looked up and stopped what he had been doing as he saw Sienna walking towards him.

His mouth twitched up into the new found smile that he had discovered only appeared for her. "Y'okay?" he asked quietly as she got closer to him, and his eyes fell to the damp ends of her long blonde hair sparkling in the early morning sun. She had left him earlier to go off and find some place to clean up and shower.

"Yeah," she replied with a knowing smile and small twinkle in her eye. Daryl's smile widened as he touched the side of her face, skimming her hair in an affectionate gesture, meeting her eye as they both shared the same vivid flashback to the intimate moment her hair had become in need of a wash.

"Well, best get back to it," Daryl mumbled, reluctant to remove his touch from her. He knew everyone around them was pretending not to notice whilst quietly observing them with a mild curiosity. His altogether better and more relaxed mood that morning, together with their absence from the main group the night before, had to give away that he had gotten _'some'_ the night before. It was obvious he and Sienna were still very much involved romantically, and his face if nothing else gave away that he'd more than likely had mind-blowing sex. It was a side to him he was just starting to become comfortable with letting people see.

...

Sienna moved away from Daryl's group, over to where Carol, Tara, Rosita, Maggie and Glenn were all sorting through food and water supplies close by. She could tell by their body language they had been watching her with Daryl.

"You need a hand?" Sienna asked.

"I think we're almost done," Tara replied with a smile from where she was sat on the wall.

Sienna perched down on the wall too, in-between Tara and Carol. She pulled out the small tub of coconut oil from her jeans pocket that she always carried around with her as a quick-fix moisturiser, and she rubbed some into her dry lips. She glanced to her side to see Carol's eyes had discreetly slid over to her. "Want some? It's coconut," Sienna offered.

"I'm fine thanks," Carol replied quickly, turning away with her mouth set in to a serious line.

Sienna started to screw the lid back on when Tara looked up, "Mmm..I love the smell of coconut, can I?…"

"Sure," Sienna said passing the tub over to Tara as she wondered what she had done to piss off Carol now. The older woman still seemed a little cold and un-friendly towards both her and her friends, almost like she wanted to keep them at a distance and not get too involved with them. Despite everything that had happened over the past few days, Carol still didn't quite trust them, Sienna thought, confused.

"Thanks Sienna," Tara said, smiling again as she handed it back.

"Oh, Eugene and Sam were looking for you," Rosita suddenly said looking up from what she was doing and over at Sienna.

"Did they say what for?" Sienna asked with a puzzled expression, wondering what they could have wanted.

Rosita shook her dark ponytail, "No, but they were up to something, I could tell."

….

Sienna wandered back into the building, to bump straight into Sam and Louie with Eugene by their side.

"There you are," Sam said immediately.

"Hey, what's up?" Sienna questioned with a curious expression.

"Eugene has managed to get the radio working," Sam explained.

"Seriously? Are you getting a signal?" Sienna asked excitedly.

"Yes ma'am," Eugene replied, eying her seriously. He held up the radio for her to look at.

Sienna examined it for a moment, out of all of them she had the most experience with communication equipment, except maybe Eugene, it turned out surprisingly. "How did you do it?" she asked him.

"I used to know a bit about systems like this in a different life," Eugene commented. "The one back at the truck wasn't one that I was familiar with, but this one is. I got it going late last night," he explained further. They'd got it transmittable but hadn't been able to make any contact, so they had made the decision not to wake Sienna and Daryl, but to wait until day-light and then try it further.

"There's a signal but it's faint we'll need to head out further," Sienna said. "I'll go and tell Daryl."

* * *

The group had gathered as much stuff as they could and were walking further north into the outskirts of the forest where they had located a clearing on the map. Daryl and Sienna were taking the lead, along with Rick, Glenn, Kyle and Michonne.

Daryl was careful to stick closely by Sienna's side again. He knew she was able to shoot okay now and more than likely save herself if she had to should they encounter any walkers, but even so he didn't want to take any chances, she wasn't as used to being out here as the majority of his group were, and he didn't want her getting hurt again, or worse. His natural instinct was firmly now to make sure that he was there to protect her should anything more happen.

"You reckon we're going to be able to make contact here?" Rick quietly questioned Daryl with a look of concern, once the group had stopped.

Daryl cleared his throat, "Yeah, I do," he responded. His eyes moved to where Sienna was stood beside him leaning against a tree fiddling with the radio and they shared a glance. They were still in the middle of no-where in an eerily deserted area. No-one from outside there group knew they were here, and there didn't seem to be any signs of life anywhere anymore, not even from the un-dead. He knew making contact was was their one big shot to getting out of here.

He pulled the crumpled map out of his pocket, scanning the area to make a straight line on it with a pencil, allowing him to study the distance, the trails and the roads surrounding them.

"Here, I gotta signal," Sienna exclaimed as a faint voice could be heard from the radio. "Come in, this is area 3, can anybody hear me?" Sienna asked. "I repeat, can anybody hear me?"

"Copy that area 3," a familiar male voice spoke up.

Sienna waved with her hand for everyone to be silent around her, as she spoke again, "Alex?" She questioned loudly.

It wasn't unusual for the media team to be active on the communication systems, especially now that the lines had become so blurred between what peoples roles actually were over here in the middle of this broken, post apocalyptic society. Alex had been a fellow journalist at the start of all this too, like Sienna, Sam and Louie. He was often on the communication systems trying to pick up signals and signs of any life or goings on elsewhere in the country,

"Kavanagh? Where the fuck have you guys been?" Alex responded, referring to her by her second name, and his usual arrogant tone was unable to mask the slight hint of relief behind it.

Sienna half wanted to retort something sarcastic back to him in response as she remembered how Alex was hardly her favourite person at the moment, particularly for the dickish way he had behaved before they had left. He had made no secret of the fact he thought it was an insane and suicidal mission to travel back to a red 'infected' zone to evacuate Daryl's group, and he had wanted no part in it. But there was no time for resentment now, so instead Sienna said, "We ran into a situation, it's a long story but...we need back up. We're still a long way out."

"Where are you?" Alex asked calmly, and his voice sounded different to usual, and more serious all of a sudden. Sienna looked up to exchange a worried look with Daryl. Something was up. A sudden feeling of panic flooded her as she looked at Daryl. _Where the hell were they exactly?_

She turned back to the radio as Alex's voice could be heard louder now, "Sienna, you still there? I said, where are you? Give me your exact location," he said clearly.

"Yeah, I'm still here," Sienna spoke up a little hesitantly, as Daryl tapped her on the arm, holding the map up in front of her and pointing to the area and co-ordinates on it with his index finger as she shakily read them out to Alex, and Daryl nodded in confirmation that what she was saying was correct.

"No, there must be some mistake, repeat that?" Alex was quick to respond urgently.

Sienna read them out again slowly and clearly, her eyes locking with Daryl's.

"What's going on, Alex?" She asked as she was met with silence.

"What are you still doing there? You _can't_ be in that area. You need to get out _now! S_ omethings going down _._ Hang on…I'll be right back," Alex said.

"No, Alex, don't go anywhere," Sienna responded, her blue eyes widening with terror.

"I'm not going anywhere, blondie, but I need to speak to Monroe," he said in a calmer tone. "I'll be as quick as I can. Don't worry, we'll sort this out."

Within seconds Monroe's voice came on the radio, "Sienna, it's Monroe you copy?"

"Yeah, I copy," she replied straight away.

"Okay, I want you to listen to what I have to say very carefully. We need to get you out of that area now. When you went dark on us, we just presumed you were headed back here. We had no idea you were still so far out. The herd is headed straight your way immanently, and within the hour there will be a series of targeted air strikes taking place... You copy that?"

 _Fuck!_ From where he was stood right next to Sienna, Daryl's heart sank. Their worst fears had come true. Very soon they could all be toast. He kept his eye on Sienna, he was relying on her to keep her cool now, they all were.

With trembling fingers and almost frozen with fear, Sienna gripped hold of the radio. "Yeah, I copy," she replied. "You need to get us out of here, Steve," she said desperately, her whole body trembling now. "We have a baby and an injured boy, you hear that, we have a _baby!"_

"I heard. Now, I want you to stay calm, we have a helicopter doing a sweep of that area, we can get you out. Stay exactly where you are, do not move, and it will come and pick you up."

"Can it take all of us?" Sienna asked, realising he didn't know exactly how many of them there were now.

"You'd better hope so," he replied, before the line of communication crackled and went dead.

...

The next few minutes felt like the longest of both Sienna and Daryl's lives. He stayed by her side, as his gaze swept around the group of people he had grown to know and love. Rick, Carl and Judith, Michonne, Maggie and Glenn, Carol….they all shared the same anxious expression, they were vulnerable and helpless to do anything but wait and hope. There was a strange energy in the air. Like this was the end to something, but also just the beginning at the same time.

Daryl looked back to Sienna, she was the closest he had come to committing himself to anyone. He had even admitted he fucking loved her, which was a massive step for him, but he wasn't quite ready to communicate or process anything further than that. All he knew was it was him and her now. They were in this together. She nudged herself a little closer to him and the gesture started to make him relax a little. His heart told him they would make it back somehow. He could feel it.

In the distance suddenly they could make out the faint whirring of what could only be a helicopter engine, getting closer and closer. Daryl put his hand to his forehead to look up and see it coming into view. With it's blades beating noisily in the air, he watched it land smoothly in the clearing.

Everything then seemed to happen so quickly, there was little time for any of them to process what was happening. Daryl, along with Rick, Trent and Sienna urgently ushered and helped everyone on board under the instructions of the two pilots. Amelia and Carl went first, then Michonne with Judith, followed by Maggie and Glenn, and then one by one the rest of the combined group that had been led by Daryl this far were on the helicopter. Eventually leaving just Rick, Daryl and Sienna who had insisted on sticking with Daryl to help everyone else.

"Get on man," Daryl yelled at Rick over the loudness of the engine. Rick nodded and climbed on board anxious to re-join his family.

"Go on, I'm right behind you," Daryl turned to yell at Sienna, grabbing her hand to help her up and on too.

Sienna looked back at Daryl's hardened handsome features partly hidden by the hair blowing into his face. Ever the hero, it was no surprise he was the last one to get on. It was acts like this that made her love him all the more. He had proven to be so much more that just the sullen and introverted survivor she had helped on to another helicopter, not so long ago. Something had told her then to take a chance on him, that he was worth it. Here, now, she knew that to be so true. She flashed him a small smile as she watched him hoisting himself on board too as they already started to lift off.

Once inside, Daryl took a deep breath, closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. He collapsed against his seat squeezed in next to Sienna. _They'd made it!_

A single tear slid down Sienna's cheek as they flew over the forest, to think the worst was behind them. Thanks in the most part to Eugene and Alex, of all people.

The group looked about them in amazement at the scenes below, it was strange to see things from this angle. The abandoned and broken world that they'd had to adapt and harden to in order to survive for so long. Could they really be leaving that behind them?

Daryl reached for Sienna's hand to give it an affectionate squeeze.

"Fuck! Is that?" Sienna suddenly asked, her jaw gaping open as she looked down - it was a barren road, but there was no mistaking as far as the eye could see, the crowds and crowds of the rotting, un-dead 'infected mass' shuffling along it, almost just merged into one collective conciseness. The sight of them made her blood run cold. It had been so dangerously close to them without them even knowing. They had dodged a bullet on an almighty scale. The sheer force from so many would have wiped them all out within moments.

"God almighty," Daryl muttered as they all witnessed the magnitude of the dead down there right in front of their eyes.

...

As they moved further away everyone on board became silent, too absorbed in their own thoughts to be able to form any kind of coherent sentence. They were shell-shocked, overwhelmed and so so tired. They had been weighed down by fear and uncertainty for so long, Rick's group hardly knew what to think anymore. The atmosphere here was different though, and it gradually turned more peaceful, hopeful even. They were moving away from the darkness of death and destruction, maybe on to something better.

Sienna rested her head on Daryl's shoulder, and her eyes fluttered shut. They were safe now. They all were.

...

 _ **A/N - Thanks so much for reading as always! Please review if you can :) I do have a lot more story to tell once Rick and the others emerge themselves into Daryl's new way of life, but I will only carry on if people are still interested for me to? Your support for this story had really inspired me and motivated me to keep it going xxx**_


	34. THIRTY FOUR

_**A/N - Thanks so much for the amazing response to the last chapter. I am so glad people are still interested to read more of this story, and I am sorry about the delay in up-dating! Life is so busy, but I have missed fanfiction, Daryl and Sienna and this AU TWD world! Especially after the end of season 6! Daryl needs some loving!**_

* * *

The blinds fluttered with a subtle breeze as slithers of moonlight shone into the dark room, illuminating the silhouette of Daryl moving on top of Sienna, as they slowly made love in the comfort of her bed again for the first time in days.

They had both collapsed into each others weary bodies earlier that evening after they had finally arrived back. It had been a pretty intense few days with their trip back to Alexandria to evacuate everyone there. After they had got back to civilisation again at the base, Daryl and Sienna had left Rick and the others getting off the helicopter, so Daryl's group could go through the relevant medical procedures and quarantine, before they could be allocated accommodation and claim refugee status. Daryl was sure they would be taken care of okay, and that he would have the chance to touch base with them again soon, once they had wrapped their heads around everything and made it through that strange procedure that he himself had been through not so long ago, and then out the other side.

Right now Daryl's focus was all on the beautiful woman beneath him, clinging on to his sweaty scarred body as he moved inside her. Slowly, carefully, lovingly, he made love to her - not fast and intense here, this time he was savouring every moment, like nothing else in the world mattered. It was just her and him. His hands were gently cupping her face, caressing her skin, as he lost himself in her wonderful blue eyes. He had never been with a woman like this. Before the 'outbreak' he had mainly just slept with whores or women that got around a lot, where there was no danger of becoming emotionally attached, he had just been seeking out a release as quickly as possible when he had been in most need of it, not having to think about anyone but himself, not having to worry about romance or any of that shit. But with Sienna it was coming to him so naturally without him having any real control over it. Part of him had held back from letting himself become open to her like this, but in these intimate moments there was no holding back.

This part of him had always been there deep down, but he had never allowed himself to fully embrace it - this sensitive and caring side side -that could be so passionate when the mood struck him. Surprisingly he had something now that he never thought he would, the past few days had made him see that he was loved and in love, and a big part of him could now let go and enjoy that, in the knowledge that they and everyone else he cared about still alive in this world, were relatively safe again.

He kissed her and Sienna blinked fluttering her eyelashes closed. She opened them to look back at his face, holding his gaze. She wondered what he was thinking. His eyes were so expressive it was like he was trying to talk to her without words.

Daryl continued to look down at her and his movements became faster, picking up the pace he thrust inside her deeper, his body tensed, and his breathing became faster. Through the hair falling into his eyes he watched her reactions, even in his fervour, he was amazed at the wonder of her, the twitching of her cute freckled nose, the little pleasured moans she released and the way she wrapped her legs around his waist and arched her pelvis, gripping his shoulders so he could drive in deeper and harder.

Sienna felt her body trembling underneath Daryl's, his eyes had darkened now and were half closed as his body sought out his final release, his face was breathing harder and she could hear him murmur words gruffly into her hair. How much he wanted her, how good it felt to be inside her..

She blushed.

His movements quickly became more urgent in his desire to seek out his ultimate pleasure, and his groans became louder in response, before he released a final low gratified groan as he finally let go. He remained on top of her for a moment his thoughts racing and incoherent. Before he dipped his head to her neck and rolled onto his side. He turned to face her as he swiped his sweaty hair from his brow, and his face lit up in reaction to her big smile as he reached for her hand.

The room fell silent again, the only noise being the movement of the blind once again from the cool night breeze blowing in from the ocean, together with the faint sounds of it's waves crashing down in the distance. It was soothing and slightly hypnotic being by the sea, and Daryl had forgotten how calming it could be.

He lay on his side facing Sienna, the soft sheet just covering their lower halves, their foreheads touching as their breathing became normal once again.

Sienna traced her forefinger gently over the tip of the scar showing on his shoulder. He had laid himself bare to her now, become completely open and vulnerable, and she wanted him to know how much she loved him, _all_ of him.

Daryl stroked her shoulder in return, and he moved his face slightly towards her silky hair to inhale her scent.

"Still can't believe we're here. There was a minute back there, when I….." he started in a low honest voice… recalling the terrifying events of the last 24 hours.

Sienna's eyes widened in question as she allowed him time to gather his thoughts, she knew that talking didn't come easily to him and this was the first time they had been alone and ready to talk properly since they had arrived back on the helicopter.

"When I thought we weren't gonna make it, none of us," he explained still stroking her shoulder, and he sensed her trembling slightly.

Sienna bit her lip,"I know," she said holding his gaze. She had never been so scared in her life in that moment before the helicopter had come into sight. It had seemed so cruel on so many levels that their story could have been about to end so abruptly back there in the middle of the forest. She could still scarcely believe they were actually back either, and it was over, for now.

"Don't know what it is about you damn girl, but things seem to have a habit of working out when you're around," Daryl said fondly.

She sighed, "That's not true, it wasn't just me that got us rescued we all played a part."

"Nah, you were the one that kept saying to go back there, to get everyone here to safety, I should have listened to ya earlier," he mumbled. "I'm sorry...I don't always listen ...sometimes I can't listen...just can't..." he confessed hesitantly, he was trying to apologise for the way he had treated her at times and also explain why to some extent, he was stubborn and he could be a little hot-headed.

She shook her head, "You did what you had to, Daryl. You do what you think is right at the time. It was _you_ that made the call to go back there and convince them to leave, no-one else, _you!_ "

"Couldn't have done it without you girl," he responded. "You save people."

Her blue eyes became sad all of a sudden, and she shook her head again, "You want to know something? ….I was a hot mess before I came out here, before you knew me...My family accused me of running away and not facing my problems. They didn't want me to come here."

"Your family still alive?" he suddenly asked curiously. Her extended family was a part of her he realised he knew very little about.

She nodded, they had never really spoken much about their families. She knew he'd had a brother that he'd grown up with and had looked out for him a lot, he'd lost his mother when he had been young, and his father had been a mean bastard that had terrorised him as a kid. Daryl had confided in her more than she ever thought he would, and she was hoping that he would open up to her even more as time went on so that she could help him even more to move past the horrific abuse he must have suffered as a child. But that certainly wasn't going to be easy, she knew that. In return he knew she'd lost her husband and young son tragically at the start of the outbreak, and she'd mentioned things in passing about her other family, but it had never really been a topic of conversation Daryl had seemed comfortable with, talking about the past, and that had been fine with her

Daryl didn't say anything further on the subject, instead his expressive eyes still remained rested on her face, awaiting her to commence speaking.

"I guess in a way they were right. I _was_ running away I can see that now, and I'm not some angel or do-gooder, I didn't come over here to help save peoples lives, or make a difference in any way. I came over here to do what I am good at and write a shit hot story about something shocking, the dead rising and attacking people, how much more shocking can you get than that? A deadly virus looking to wipe out all of man-kind. I wanted to report on how things really were, I wanted to scream them across the internet and in my blog. And I wanted to immerse myself in the terror and destruction here, because being somewhere like this was the only way I could deal with my own shit…"

"But ya did save people, you saved me," he responded seriously. "Remember back when we first met and you said to me, _'it doesn't matter who we were back then, it's who we are now that matters?_ " Daryl had been cold and un-trusting back then, but quickly he had warmed to Sienna and he had liked her despite how much he had tried not to, and her words had really meant something to him. She had saved his sorry ass.

Sienna felt her eyes swell with emotion. She put her fingers up to brush the hair away from his eyes and she smiled. He had touched her life in more ways than he would ever know. He had made her _feel_ again.

"For a while back then I didn't care if I lived or died. Thats why I took so many chances and went out on such dangerous missions. But slowly being here made me realise that we had no choice but to fight, before the whole of the damn world became lost. I realized that there could be a life worth living again, different, but still worth-while, and I found a strength I never even knew I had. _Because we have to fight, all of us._ Everyone still surviving has been through their own individual hell, and if we are lucky enough to still be alive it has to mean something, right? "

"Right," he agreed, his pupils sweeping over her beautiful features. Her words could have come from any one of them. Everyone that he had met since the start of this darkness, including himself, had found some kind of hidden strength unbeknown to them before -Rick, Carol, Maggie, Glenn, Michonne, Beth….all of them.

"Back there in the forest, I _knew_ I didn't want to die, I didn't want you to die, I wanted more time. When my life flashed before my eyes, I felt like I wanted to live forever," Sienna confessed, as she stopped herself from saying any more. She knew it was small steps with Daryl, he was slowly starting to let her in and start to see what was happening to them, but she didn't want to push it.

"Mmm.." Daryl jerked his head in agreement as he kept his gaze on her, their noses grazing now. He knew what she was saying, if he wasn't so fucking crazy about her he would have found it a little disconcerting that she was talking like that. But he felt it too.

"I've always been ready to die, even before all this shit back when I was a kid and then when I was with Merle, I expected it all the time, and sometimes I thought it wouldn't be such a bad thing. But when we were all stood there waiting for the helicopter out there, it didn't seem right somehow, not now, it feels different," he said quietly, giving her an intense stare. He had never opened up to a woman like this before, there had been a few that had wanted him too, but he had shut them down immediately. Even Carol had never got him to vocalise his personal stuff like this.

"Well, we were lucky," Sienna responded.

"Yeah, cause we nearly became toast," he smirked, quirking a brow. It was so weird to think that the whole area he and his group had been surviving in for all those months around Alexandria, was now gone. All of it.

"You think Rick and the others are getting on okay?" Sienna asked.

"Yeah, been through much worse," he replied as he studied her carefully still, "You think they'll fit in?" he asked, because he knew it wasn't going to be that straight forward for them to just adapt over night.

"It won't be easy, you know that. Surviving in a civilised society again, taking orders, learning to adapt to all that again is going to be tough for them after everything," she said softly echoing his thoughts. Sienna then thought to Carol and how cold and dis-trusting she was still. They had PTSD therapists here and she hoped somehow Carol and the rest of them could find the help they needed so they could start to live again.

She let out a small laugh as she suddenly remembered Daryl's curt reaction when she had first suggested to him that he visited a PTSD therapist here. She could see now why perhaps that wouldn't have worked out so well.

"What?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Nothing, just that -you'll be alright, Dixon. The universe has big plans for you, you're strong and were made for this life, you'll be the last man standing, you'll out live us all," Sienna teased with a playful smile.

Daryl's face hardened slightly as a chilling shiver ran over him to hear those words and he pulled away from her.

"What is it?" Sienna asked, a little panicked at his strong reaction.

"Don't ever say that again," he grunted back brusquely. The last time someone had said that to him, had been Beth back at the moon-shine cabin, she had foreshadowed her own death back then without even realising. Losing that sweet girl had been overwhelmingly painful for Daryl, and the thought of losing Sienna like that too was terrifying to him. Everyone he let get close to him seemed to die sooner or later, so maybe he was being an idiot getting attached to her like this. _Maybe?_

"Hey, I'm not going to die on you, Daryl," Sienna said firmly, her face serious, as she reached for his hand to pull him in close to her again. "You're stuck with me now... we're in this together," she whispered more gently moving his hair away from his face again to plant another soft kiss on his forehead, " _I'm not going anywhere!"_

It was a little un-nerving how well she knew exactly what he was thinking, but Daryl slowly allowed himself to relax again, and he felt like he'd heard those last few words coming from her lips before, although he couldn't quite place when or where. But it didn't matter. They had cheated death again and he felt as though perhaps their journey _was_ just getting started now.

"I forgot, I got ya summat," he muttered, changing the subject. He moved away to turn his back to her, as he reached down to fumble in his backpack.

Sienna looked on at his scarred back curiously.

"Here," he said, turning back to her to hand her a book, flicking the hair out of his eyes as he watched her reaction.

"Watership Down," she exclaimed, turning it over in her hands, it was faded, ripped and a little worse for wear, but was still intact and readable. "Where did you get it?"

"Back when we were sorting through supplies back at the holiday camp, Carl wanted to get some books and I saw it, made me think of you," he said a little awkwardly. He wasn't normally one for such sentimental gestures.

"You should read it?" Sienna suggested.

"Nah, aint no pictures in it," Daryl joked with a smirk.

"I'll read it to you if you want?" Sienna offered, she knew he'd like it, even if he wasn't big on reading.

"If you like. Aint get no cable TV," he shrugged, still watching her as she pulled the sheet up and over her full naked breasts, and still on her side she propped herself up onto her elbow, smoothing her ruffled blonde hair behind her ear to open the book.

" _Part 1 - THE JOURNEY…..The primroses were over. Toward the edge of the wood, where the ground became open and sloped down_ ….." Sienna began.

Daryl rolled over to lie on his back and he shut his eyes as he listened to the sound of her voice, she had such a lovely voice he thought he could listen to her reading pretty much anything. But as he focused in on her words, he found himself becoming more and more lost in the fantasy fictional world of 'courageous rabbits' on the beginnings of a long journey after losing their home…..And he realized he didn't care about being the tough guy anymore, or the up-tight guarded person that never let go, he was just him now, here in the now. _Was this what if felt like to finally be happy?_

 _ **A/N - Thanks for reading! Please leave a review if you can.**_


	35. THIRTY FIVE

_**A/N - If anyone is missing the show and Rick and Daryl, here is a little of their bromance for you :) This is mainly Rick's POV, hope you enjoy :)**_

 _ **(I also re-edited the last chapter again, and made a few small alterations if anyone wants to read it again)**_

* * *

Rick took a moment to quietly observe his surroundings. The air felt fresh and new, there was something very different about this place. He hadn't quite been able to put his finger on it a first, but Rick now realised that the the smell of the dead was quite startlingly gone. They'd arrived somewhere completely different. It wasn't like when they'd first arrived at Alexandria and they'd also been met with a glimmer of hope after being tired, hungry and on the brink of giving up and had been completely taken by surprise at how civilized everything had seemed to be - because even at Alexandria underneath it all there had still been a fear and desperation embedded into the atmosphere, the dark shadow of the world they had once known rotting around them.

It wasn't like that here. Right now there was no sign of any infected and Rick had seen enough walkers for a life time. There were real blue skies here and open spaces that weren't engulfed with the stench of death and infection.

Something about the place made Rick think back to another time … before the events that changed the world back in the summer of 2010 had taken place. When people had a purpose other then just doing absolutely anything they had to, just to stay alive.

In this refugee centre or military base or whatever it was, people seemed to have been brought in from all over the country, the word even, all still mourning for their dead and lost world, but somehow appearing calmer and more purposeful. To Rick it felt pretty surreal to be back amongst some sort of order again and up until recently the idea would have been completely insane to him. It was still very hard for him to be able to trust anything anymore, and it was early days but he had to admit that the world did look almost as though is was trying to heal itself.

Despite Rick's reservations about trusting anything, he was also aware that Daryl had already been here for months and Rick trusted him with his life, if there was something up with it here, Daryl would have discovered it by now.

There were also a lot of survivors here, more than Rick had seen since the start even- soldiers, doctors and nurses, security staff, then what appeared to just be ordinary civilians working doing various tasks, aid workers and journalists like Sienna and her friends. Some people were foreign but a lot were American like Rick's group, people that had been lucky enough to have survived the virus outbreak so far and made it here.

There were also plenty of safety precautions in place here too, guarded entrances and exists to various different buildings, but surprisingly it wasn't a walled or gated community. They were on the coast and there was full access to the beach and surrounding areas. If he wanted to, Rick could run, but he didn't want to, not yet. Not without knowing all the facts and having some kind of plan or back up. From his de-briefing from Steve Monroe, Rick was satisfied this place was genuine, that and again the fact that his closest friend and ally, Daryl, was here.

...

Rick ran his hand through his hair as he continued to look around cautiously, he had to admit he felt lost. Despite a long sleep he was so tired still and things still weren't making complete sense. They'd had numerous interviews before they had finally been let outside to their accommodation. They'd had pysch and blood tests run amongst other health checks, and shots and various medications administered too, before they'd satisfied the anti- infection legislation that this new world government had put into place.

Before he'd been allowed through to this living area, he'd had to hold his hand up to a metal testing pad on the wall, all his group had, and they'd watched in amazement to see a light on it change from red to green, indicating they were clean and good to go. There had been a virus inside every one of them lying dormant waiting for the day, they, it's host, died and it was invited to take over. Rick was now led to believe that the virus inside him was gone due to the treatment he had been given at the hospital, that someone somewhere in a laboratory in France had come up with a way to activate the immune system to destroy it before it had the chance to become activated. That seemed crazy! But no less crazy than anything else that had happened to the world in the last few years.

So now they were no longer carriers, walking time-bombs. Dr Jenner had mentioned something about the tests being done on this back at the CDC - so much had happened since then, it felt like another life to Rick. At the time he had felt some hope there was a way to save his family. But that had all been burned to the ground along with Jenner, the CDC, and any other chance he could see for the the world to return to normal.

That was until now!

Rick had been de-briefed and given the talk after they had been through the medical procedures. Facts and figures had been presented, news videos, and maps showing different coloured zones. From the red, highly dangerous infected zones including where they had just come from; to green, supposedly secure safe zones like where they were right now. It had been a lot to take on board. Rick had also had the chance to read up on a few things, including Sienna and Sam's blogs, they were unfiltered and prolific, shocking in places, as they told the story of what had been happening to the world. Daryl's new friends hadn't been lying with the explanations they had given Rick and the others when they had arrived at Alexandria to with Daryl to evacuate them all. Reading their words for himself had helped Rick to see the reality of what had been going on elsewhere in the world too, and enabled him to try and make some sense of the drastically changing society.

Now, having benefited from a full uninterrupted nights sleep, Rick was on his way to catch up with Daryl here, although he realised he actually had no idea where to find his friend. He decided to head down a path that looked to be leading to some more buildings, and he stopped when he saw a group of guys stood around talking. Rick tensed as he couldn't help but notice they were all fully armed.

"Any of you know where I can find Daryl Dixon?" he asked, as he looked them up and down, he felt lost without his guns and the ability to defend himself should things turn ugly. He had been stripped of his weapons for now as a safety procedure, being a new arrival.

"They live down there in the media centre," the one closest to him replied in what sounded to Rick like an Australian accent, pointing with his finger to a path that looked to lead in the direction of the beach.

"Thanks," Rick replied, stopping himself from eyeing the stranger with any further suspicion. He was un-armed and vulnerable, and he knew he had to suspend his disbelief, and trust that not everyone here was going to turn out to be a threat. Right now he just had to find Daryl.

He didn't have to look much harder, as he spotted a familiar looking motorcycle parked outside one of the first buildings that came into sight. He quickened his pace as he marched up to the front door and knocked on it a few times before it opened, and his jaw dropped slightly as he saw a newly familiar blonde stood in front of him.

"Rick! Hi, it's good to see you," Sienna said immediately, greeting Rick warmly.

"Hi," Rick responded still a little confused, he should have expected Daryl to be living with Sienna, but somehow it still hadn't quite sunk in that Daryl actually had another life here. But now that Rick was seeing it with his own eyes, it felt very real.

"How are you all? You settled in okay?" she asked with a smile and wide blue eyes. Here in this environment she looked different to when he had last seen her, and the sight of her temporarily took his breath away a little, she was dressed in a tight fitted t-shirt and skimpy shorts, leaving little to the imagination, with her long golden hair hanging loosely over her lightly bronzed shoulders and skimming her full breasts.

Rick cleared his throat, unable to control his wandering gaze from falling over her curves for a split second, she was gorgeous and he hadn't been with a woman in a long time, so it wasn't exactly surprising the effect it had on him seeing her here in this calmer environment, but he forced himself to get it together, she was Daryl's woman. _Daryl's woman!_ That still sounded a little strange.

"Kinda," he replied, giving her a shy smile in return. "I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a little strange, but so far so good, I guess. We're still finding our feet, but it all seems official enough.

"Thats great," she responded still smiling, "And yeah it is official here, as much as anything can be now."

Rick nodded still smiling politely, he half wanted to get into a longer conversation with her about her blog, but he knew now wasn't the time. Instead he swallowed and his face turned a little more serious, he wasn't afraid to admit he was a little out of his comfort zone being at a place this size, where he had become so dependent all over again and also slightly vulnerable too. He was no longer in charge or needed at all at this point, it was a totally different ball game to Alexandria. Here he was the one looking for assistance, not offering it. But he knew he needed to know all the facts stil, the real facts. "Err…I was actually looking for Daryl," he explained, his pale blue eyes turning questioning.

Before she had the chance to respond Daryl suddenly appeared by her side, confirming what Rick already knew that he had been living here with her.

"Hey man,' Daryl said casually, jerking his head in acknowledgement as a genuinely relieved and happy look crossed his face to see Rick. "Come in," he immediately invited as he stepped back from the door to allow Rick room to enter.

Rick took a good look at his friend as he walked past him, he too looked different here in this environment. He was a far cry from how Rick had remembered him back when they had been surviving together for years, when Daryl had been dirty, tired and rough looking most of the time. Right now Daryl looked different even to how he had presented those few days ago when he had appeared back at Alexandria again after months. He looked well-rested and healthy, his skin was brighter and his hair looked remarkably for Daryl freshly washed as it fell over his face and brushed his jawline. He smelled pretty good too, some kind of aftershave or something. Rick guessed that was what getting laid regularly and finding the comfort of a good woman did to a man, especially after all the time alone Daryl'd had.

Rick also imagined living some place where you could almost relax knowing there weren't immediate threats to your life at every turn, was a good stress reliever. Because if nothing else here, there was definitely shelter, plenty of food and medicine, as well as gasoline, weapons and technology that actually worked. Those things alone would put you more at peace.

…..

Rick followed Daryl and Sienna into an open plan living area that backed onto a kitchen with double doors leading to an outside yard area. It wasn't as grand as the big houses in Alexandria, but it felt more real, like the kind of place they were probably meant to live now. Not some unrealistic fantasy town.

"I was just about to go out for a morning run," Sienna explained as Rick took a seat opposite Daryl at the table. "But, can I get you something to drink, Rick? Some coffee or tea? Juice maybe, or a beer?" She offered with a twinkle in her eye.

"Ah, no thanks, it's a little early for a beer I think," Rick grinned. "I'll just take some juice thanks."

"It's never too early for a beer," Sienna responded with a grin back as she arched an eyebrow and exchanged a fond look with Daryl, before she turned to the refrigerator to take out and pour two glasses of orange juice.

"Thanks," Rick said again as he looked with a little amazement at the bright, sunny coloured liquid sparkling in the glass. It had been a long time since he had seen orange juice like that.

Sienna scooped her hair up into a pony tail and fiddled with what looked like an MP3 player strapped to her hip, putting the attached headphones into her ears as she waved, "Catch you later, Rick." She purposefully walked past Daryl and Rick couldn't help but notice the subtle way Daryl touched her back as she did. The way you would touch someone you were intimate with.

…

"You get on okay over there in quarantine?" Daryl asked, once Sienna had left them alone to talk, having gone down to the beach for her run.

"Yeah, except I keep thinking any minute now I'm going to wake up. I saw someone talking into a cell phone on my way over here," Rick said with an amused smile.

Daryl smiled too as he swept his long hair away from his eyes with the back of his hand, this place did seem pretty surreal at first. Finding out that everything you thought you knew about the world now was actually false. That the world hadn't totally collapsed, and other countries had remained a little more intact than they'd imagined, and there was a government still, a military again, and some resemblance of civilisation was emerging back. Even just finding out that the rest of their country was fairing better than the area they had been moving around in since the start, was a total mind-fuck.

"They've put us in apartments and given us food cards," Rick added.

"How are Carl and ass-kicker doing?" Daryl asked with genuine concern. There was a lot he wanted to ask Rick and discuss but he didn't want to rush it.

"Carl went straight into surgery, they've saved his eye, and he may regain some sight in it but they've said it's unlikely. Judith's fine, she's with Michonne, her and Carol are living with me and the kids. The doctors said Judith seems healthy and she's dong well considering." Rick paused and took a deep breath suddenly overcome with emotion, the little girl that had come into this world under such horrific circumstances continued to be a living miracle for Rick each and every day. "I just can't believe I've been so lucky," he said, shaking his head as he looked Daryl straight in the eye.

"Nothing to do with luck. You always did your best for her," Daryl said, referring to Judith.

"We all did," Rick agreed, "She wouldn't have made it without you, Beth and Hershel, and Glenn and Maggie, Michonne, Carol…"

"Everyone else good?" Daryl quickly questioned, at the mention of the rest of their group.

Rick nodded, "Yeah, a little overwhelmed but once thats settled they'll be fine I hope. Things seems well run here and above board."

"They talk to you about jobs?" Daryl asked curiously his hair falling into his eyes again.

"They mentioned a few things to us, but they said to settle in first before anything is made official," Rick responded.

"They go through everything with you in the debriefing? They tell you about the zones and show you the map?" Daryl asked, aware he was firing questions now, he paused allowing Rick the chance to answer. He knew Rick and the others would have found that part hard to take in. That had been the part Daryl had found the hardest to swallow once he had first arrived here, seeing where they had been living had been an red infected zone.

"Yeah, they did," Rick nodded. "It seems weird to think all that was happening and we never even knew, back at the prison and then Alexandria…If we'd only known…" he trailed off.

"Aint no point thinking like that now," Daryl mumbled. "We're here now and we still got a long way to go, all of us."

Rick nodded.

"You wanna get some air?" Daryl asked.

Rick nodded and before they had the chance to say anything further, Rick felt something soft brush against his leg, he looked down to see a large grey dog with a bright collar making it's way over to Daryl. "You have a dog?" Rick exclaimed surprised, this place was getting stranger to him by the second.

"She's Sienna's," Daryl explained as he ruffled Suki's fur fondly. Suki had pretty much accepted Daryl as her new special companion now too and spent just as much time around him than she did Sienna.

"Nice," Rick remarked with a smirk as he stood up to follow Daryl out the double doors. He really did have a life here now.

Outside there was a medium height fence surrounding the back of the small yard. Rick took a moment to lean over it and allow the cool early morning breeze to caress his tired face as he gazed out at the view, and he saw in the distance the outline of the brilliant blue ocean. It was a sight Rick had never thought he would see again and it filled him with a rush of emotion. It reminded him that despite everything, nature was still untouched and beautiful.

"So, _this,_ is where you've been all this time?" Rick asked still gazing out in front of him. "Nice view you got."

Daryl shifted a little uncomfortably from where he had joined Rick to stand and look out at the edge of the sea in the distance. "I wanted to come back. Rick, you gotta believe me, when I first got here I was all set to come back, me and Aaron we were planning it….but then he collapsed and got rushed into surgery and everything changed, it wasn't going to be that easy. I had no weapons, no back up," Daryl explained, feeling even more uncomfortable as he re-called the events that had led to him staying here. Sienna had single handedly talked him out of it at first, making him see that going it alone would be madness. Then after she'd nearly gotten raped and tortured at the hands of the rebel group they had encountered out on the road when he had been intending to leave her and go back to Alexandria, one thing had led to another and he had manned up…..manned up for her, and slowly she had made him let her in more and more and things had gotten even more complicated, meaning leaving wasn't going to be that easy. Not that he was about to share any of that with Rick just yet.

"Then the borders were locked down and it would have been near impossible to have got back without revealing Alexandria's location, and I had to be certain that was the right thing to do," Daryl continued tentatively in a low voice, in the time he had been here, he had only ever spoken about his old community with Sienna, the one person he felt certain he could trust after they had become so intimately connected.

He glanced at Rick to gauge his reaction, he didn't like feeling like he'd let them down in any way, after everything they'd been through.

"Daryl, it's okay. This place, _her_ ," Rick started, and he indicated with his head back towards the house, " _I get it._ You found something, something to make it all worth-while." Rick sighed into his hands as he suddenly wondered whether he would ever feel like that again, or whether his existence now was purely for his kids and to lead them all to some kind of safety.

A silence fell between Rick and Daryl as they both enjoyed the peace and serenity of the moment.

"When it really mattered you came back, you were there for us," Rick added seriously, breaking the silence. "Just like you _always_ were."

Daryl didn't speak but the look on his face told Rick he was genuinely touched by the sentiment. Rick knew Daryl would still do anything for them, and to him Daryl would forever be his brother.

"So, we good?" Rick asked, his eyes looking intensely at Daryl.

Daryl took a moment before he nodded and replied slowly, "Yeah, we're good."

 _ **A/N - Thanks for reading as always, please review if you can :)**_


	36. THIRTY SIX

_A/N - It's been a while since I updated this, but there is a lot more story to tell, so hope, you, my awesome readers, are still interested in this TWD world. This chapter is setting up some new action!_

* * *

"Close your eyes feels like nothings changed," Rick joked to Michonne, from where he was sat next to her on a bar stool loosely clutching a bottle of beer as they enjoyed some down time in their new found world.

Michonne flashed him a big grin, it was weird being back in a place that served cold beers, a place where people actually worked serving people cold beers. She had never thought it would be possible to step back into that sort of world again. What the hell was happening?

Most of their group were here with them at the bar, having all spent the last few days settling into the refugee centre, they were now relaxing in the hub of the place, where people seemingly came to relax when not working - to chat, drink, play pool, and watch the big screen displayed on the wall. As well as Rick and Michonne, there was also here, Maggie and Glenn, Carol, Spencer, Abraham, Rosita, Sasha, Tara and Eugene.

Rick glanced down at his baby daughter, Judith, asleep in her new baby buggy next to him. She looked so peaceful, could he almost allow himself to think that she was safe now? Things were never that simple though. He drew in a breath and cleared his throat as he turned his attention back to Michonne.

"They've asked me to go out with them and work on the field with Daryl on a trial basis. There is a rebel group operating just outside the zone we've come from they want to investigate and take out," Rick explained. He was still trying to get his head around then conversations he'd been having the past few days here. There was a rebel group of survivors gaining momentum, possibly the biggest they'd experienced so far in this post apocalyptic society -that was intimidating, killing and ruling an area bigger than the one they had just come from. Intelligence suggested there was a leader that needed to be captured and arrested. It would be a dangerous mission, but Rick felt it was his duty to work here and not just sit around and do nothing, so he had agreed to join them in a field trip to gather more intel. Being the leader of a group of successful and hardened survivors this far into the outbreak had given him a lot of clout here and he had been asked to work with the military now already, despite not having been here that long.

"Oh," Michonne's eyes widened in response to Rick.

"I've told them I'll do it. They said my experience will be valuable to them, just as Daryl's has been," Rick explained further, his light blue eyes meeting hers, he wasn't quite sure why he was finding this conversation difficult.

"I could come too?" Michonne suggested. So far they had just asked her to consider teaching survival skills to new-comers here, nothing else.

Rick shook his head, "Nah, if I'm going, I need you here for Judith and Carl."

"There are plenty of people here for them," Michonne responded a little confused.

"No! It has to be you," Rick said quietly and firmly, his face was deadly serious. If he was going to leave his children even for a short while, there was only one person he wanted here with them, to make sure they really were safe.

"Okay," Michonne nodded, she knew what a big thing it was that he was asking her, and she also knew that she would do anything for him and the children she loved as her own. Staying here with them was every bit as big a deal as going back out there.

"Thanks," Rick responded, and he touched her hand for a second. As he moved it away, he looked around at the group of people that he had come to love and protect as his own family, and he couldn't help but notice that again there was someone missing from them. Daryl. Now that Rick's right hand man and close friend was back amongst them again, his absence right now was very much noticed, and since they had cleared quarantine and started to settle here, he knew they all would be a lot happier if Daryl joined them, seeing as it was Daryl that had been the one to lead them here in the first place.

Rick glanced back over to the entrance again just in time to see Sienna walk in with Daryl right behind her, and Rick relaxed a little to see the former redneck.

"Rick, you got a sec?" Abraham suddenly appeared in front of Rick and interrupted, sparking up a conversation to take Rick's full attention away from Daryl, Sienna and the rest of his thoughts and the group.

...

Daryl's lined and hardened face appeared to have softened a little as he made his way into the bar to join his friends, for once they weren't in trouble, and he wasn't needed to be on high alert to get them to safety anymore either. Part of him didn't know what to do with himself, or what his role was meant to be now.

He was changed from the person they had known before, he had found a sort of peace and a life worth living here. Maybe, this was a glimpse of what normal life before the outbreak would have been like? Daryl hadn't had many friends back then or people he could trust, he'd been angry and introverted before the world had gone to hell. Now, he did have people that loved and needed him, people that possibly wouldn't have given him the time of day in the old world. But despite that, he still hadn't quite been able to deal with his shit when he had been back with them -at the farm, and the prison and then Alexandria. Now he was starting to face up to things, being here and finding Sienna had made him change for the better.

As he realised everyone was looking their way, Daryl became a little shy with all attention on him as he walked in with Sienna, his girl. He could guess what they were thinking, that he had been making up for lost time with her the past few days, now that they were back here and comfortable sleeping in their own bed again, and that was a pretty accurate account of what they had been up to the last couple of nights. But Daryl still felt slightly uncomfortable with his group seeing where he had been all the time he had been missing when they'd had no idea what had been happening to him, or if they would ever seen him again. But his awkwardness seem to fade the further into the room he got. He wasn't too close to Sienna but his hand was very subtly rested on her lower back in a protective way, his way of stating what she was to him, as if there was any doubt now. All his group knew he lived here with her. He hadn't hidden what she was to him at all since he had been re-untied with them. But now they were all back here, it was glaringly obvious - they lived together, and they were sleeping together, and they were together in every sense of the word. Lovers.

Sienna smoothed her long blonde hair away from her face as she approached the bar and flashed a warm smile to the people she knew that Daryl considered his family. She knew she had been accepted by the majority of them finally, but they were still very protective of each other, and she was still not fully one of them, nor could she expect to be for quite some time. Daryl's group had only been here for a short time and they hadn't integrated much, that would take a while, the past few years had been tough and they had taken their toll, Sienna understood that.

Daryl perched against the bar in the middle of his friends. Sienna turned her back to him to get them some drinks, she turned back around to see Maggie and Glenn had appeared too. Maggie looked full of emotion and she was clutching a a strip of paper in her hand.

"We had the scan," Maggie announced. "Everything looks to be okay, and it's going to be a little boy," she beamed, she was excited to be sharing the images of her and Glenn's un-born child with the group, sharing this rare moment of happiness with then all. She handed the scan photos to Carol first who instantly smiled which made her eyes light up, before Carol passed them on to Michonne who too broke into a huge smile to see such a precious thing come out of this bleak world. Michonne examined them for a moment more before she passed them on to Sienna.

"Congratulations, thats wonderful," Sienna exclaimed leaning forwards to hug Maggie quickly before she passed the scan images on to Daryl who gave them a quick glance unable to hide the corners of his mouth from curling into a little smile too. Despite his tough guy act, he was a sucker for babies and kids, and this was pretty magical. It was just a grainy picture that he couldn't quite make out, but it resembled so much more, just like baby Judith had too. Hope. A future. A new beginning. He glanced sideways to look at Sienna just for a second, it was a special moment and he was glad she was there with him now. Sienna caught his eye with an unspoken communication, before she turned her attention to a noise coming from her bag, she opened it to rummage inside and pull out her vibrating phone, "Amelia wants to see me," she explained, as she listened to an urgent message from her friend.

"Everything okay?" Daryl asked seriously in a low voice.

Sienna shrugged, "Better call her back and see what she wants."

Daryl squeezed her hand before she stood up and he ran his thumb along the inside of her palm before he released it and he gently skimmed her hip before she wandered away from the group and he watched her through his hair with intense eyes as he leaned back down against the bar.

He took a sip from his bottle and he peered sideways through his long hair to see Michonne next to him giving him an amused smile. "What?" he asked gruffly, raising his eyebrows. He could sense she was about to tease him in some way, the uncharacteristic soppy gesture with Sienna, hadn't been lost on her.

"Never had you down for the romantic type," Michonne replied, her eyes twinkling.

Daryl didn't say anything in response as he squinted back at her and his cheeks burned. He'd always had a good relationship with Michonne, and he had counted her as one of his closet friends. Back in the prison days they had spent a lot of time alone together on 'supply runs', they hadn't chatted to each other a lot and certainly not about personal stuff, but the quiet companionship and mutual respect they'd built up had allowed them to understand each other at a basic level. They were fundamentally such different people, but they'd had certain things in common, they'd both been treated as outsiders and untrustworthy at first, they'd both lost people and they'd both had to put up tough exteriors to mask their vulnerability underneath. Michonne was one of the few people that had never judged Daryl, and she had always been able to read him well. Right now being no different, Daryl knew she could tell how crazy in love he was. Which made him more than a little uncomfortable.

Unfazed at his silence, Michonne continued, smiling, "All that stuff you said, Dixon, about _'damn romance'!_ About people being better off without any of that rubbish. That _you_ were happy being a lone wolf, not needing that kind of crap, you'd never need to rely on anyone …it was best that way," she trailed off, she knew she was embarrassing him, but she didn't care it was too much fun to see his reaction and she knew she was just saying what everyone else was thinking. It was a shock to see him with a woman like this, but endearing at the same time, because everyone knew that deep down Daryl was a big old sweetheart underneath his gruff front. He deserved the love of a good woman.

Daryl shrugged, and said casually, "Yeah, well, thats true an all, but then you meet someone that you…and I guess it….it," he stopped aware he wasn't talking in complete sentences or making much sense, but he had wanted to try and form some kind of explanation none the less. He was a very private person, but none the less he wanted people to know what Sienna meant to him. He knew they were curious now they had seen how he was with her here.

" _It_ changes things," Michonne finished for him, with a warmer and fonder smile now. She knew what it was like to experience love and she also knew what it was like to find someone that made you believe and hope again, to be excited for the future, and she was pleasantly surprised to see Daryl experiencing that now after all this time alone. He had never spoken openly to her about his past, but from the little throw away comments he had made here and there when they'd been out on their own together, it was clear where he stood on the subject of romantic relationships and the disdain he himself had had for them, they weren't worth the trouble. It was pretty obvious he had never witnessed or experienced anything to prove to him anything otherwise. Michonne had always felt that was a little sad, but she had respected his view point. Now, it was good to see him happy, having finally allowed himself to get intimate with someone in this broken world. Perhaps he had realised that finding someone to get close too, despite his reservations, could actually be quite wonderful. Perhaps he had figured out what he actually wanted now? And perhaps they could all learn something from him now?

It would probably hurt him like hell at some point, but Daryl was clearly learning how to love, because he Michonne knew he was continuing to be the person he was meant to be all along, before the turn even. Something had happened to him here, or someone in Sienna's case, that had made him realise that he had to risk being vulnerable after all, in order to allow someone to really see him - hopefully now he was realizing that love and intimacy were worth taking that risk, and most importantly that he is worthy of love. To be loved and to give love.

"Yeah," Daryl eventually agreed in a low voice, the corners of his mouth twitching up into a sort of smile a sign of how he had changed. Before he used to practice avoidance a little like Michonne too had done, now being in love made him experience a new range of emotions.

He looked down at the floor as he felt a small twinge of awkwardness, he was aware that their conversation could be over-heard by the others around them too. He looked past Michonne for a moment to catch Carol's eye and he could tell she had been listening. He had sensed there was a little tension between them since they had gotten back here and a thud hit his insides, as he felt a little guilt that he hadn't really taken the time to interact much with her here. Carol meant the world to him and he didn't want things to be awkward. He knew she was going through some stuff and he wished he could help her more. He knew he had always been one of the only people Carol could really relate to, and he knew that he needed to talk to her alone soon.

"Well, if you'll excuse me, I promised Carl I'd sneak him some chocolate and update him on what's being going on around here," Michonne announced as she stood up to walk away, just as Sienna came back over.

"I couldn't get hold of Amelia she's probably in a surgery. I'll speak to her later, hopefully it's nothing important," Sienna explained quietly to Daryl.

Daryl nodded and his eyes creased as he brushed his hair out of them and he studied her expression, she was concerned but not overly so. Sienna had told him recently that there had been whispers going around that something big was going on in the medical field. That all possibly wasn't what it seemed. There were also more plans for evacuation schemes. Right now though this wasn't the time or the place to discuss it, he knew that.

He turned his focus away from Sienna and glanced at Carol again and she smiled weakly back at him, and Daryl felt a small relief. He was going out with Rick, Monroe and some others again soon and he knew before that, he still had an important role to play in helping his family find their own way and their own peace here too, just like he seemed to have done...

 _Thanks for reading, please review if you can :) :) Feedback really helps to inspire me to write more._


	37. THIRTY SEVEN

_**A/N - I haven't updated this story for a while as the summer is a really busy time and I haven't got much time for writing :( But I wanted to add this little chapter for everyone!**_

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The evening sun was setting high in the sky, Daryl cleared his throat and shifted his head to look at his friend next to him. He had only known her for just over three years, but it felt more like twenty. Being with her had always been so easy, like she had always been there. Never judged, never questioned, just accepted him.

"What?" Carol asked almost suspiciously as she noticed the intense way he was studying her.

"You okay?" he asked tentatively in a low voice.

He had come out for some air and a smoke, but in truth he had followed Carol when he had noticed her quietly leaving the hub of the main bar. When he had found her sat on the steps gazing out into the distance in the direction of the ocean, he had silently sunk down beside her.

"Mmmm.." she responded, averting eye contact. "I'm fine."

Daryl knew her better than that, they were two of a kind. He blinked a couple of times before he went on to remark, "You aint gonna fool me.."

"I _said_ I was fine," she snapped back.

"You don't have to pretend - _it's me!"_ Daryl said sincerely with kind eyes. He was aware how this new civilised place had a strange way of bringing shit to the surface, of making you deal with things you had been able to successfully keep suppressed with the daily fight for survival over-shadowing everything else. He'd had Sienna to help him here, now he wanted to help Carol just like Sienna had helped him.

"And you don't have to feel responsible for me," Carol replied thorough clenched teeth.

Daryl flinched slightly from her terse tone. Carol could see his face drop and she regretted the harsh tone of her voice. She cared for him so much, but she didn't want to hold him back now he was happy.

An uncomfortable silence fell between them for a few seconds. A breeze blowing in from the ocean whipped around their faces as they both contemplated their thoughts. Breaking the silence Daryl decided to take a gamble and talk to her again. "It's fucking weird at first being here, but it gets better, I promise ya. You just gotta give it time. What ever happened, happened, we've just gotta start over." He let that comment hang out there waiting for a response.

Carol glanced at him and her eyes softened. It had always been there, his kind heart, his compassion and empathy, but now it was as though he knew he didn't have to hide it anymore. He could be himself and she could see he really wanted to help her, and it made her heart melt a little, and that thought alone filled her with a warm glow. Maybe she would never fully deal with her demons, but she knew she needed to at least try. Her mouth twitched into a small smile. "Yeah….I guess."

Daryl gave her a half smile in return and held her gaze, his deep blue eyes although considerably more well-rested now, still held the deep creases of a lifetime of strain and tension. He wanted his friend to find peace, she deserved that.

"That what you're doing here, starting over? Settling down and making a life?" Carol asked changing the subject, and she raised an eyebrow watching him carefully. She looked at his masculine profile from where he was sat next to her, his eyes were staring straight in front of him now and he chewed down on his thumb in a way she had seen him do a thousand times before.

He shrugged. He knew Carol had over-heard his earlier conversation with Michonne about Sienna. It was no secret he had found something at last, something to live for, he was crazy in love with her, and she had changed him, and helped him heal. He drew in a breath and trying to sound as casual as possible he said. "Yeah."

Carol felt a pang of emotion hit her.

...

"So you gonna pull your whole Betty Crocker thing here too?" Daryl smirked allowing his hair to fall into his eyes as he lightened the mood.

Carol smirked back, remembering how he had mocked her when they had first arrived at Alexandria and she had played the innocent housewife. He had told her she looked ridiculous in her frumpy clothes and in return she had mocked him for his personal hygiene and refusal to shower. A thing that didn't appear to be an issue anymore, Daryl still looked a little rough around the edges here, but he was noticeably cleaner than he had ever been before. It was funny what would motivate a guy Carol thought, and Daryl had proven to be no different to any other hot-blooded male in that respect. Carol guessed Sienna had more luck in that department seeing as he was getting regular sex from her.

"There you are," they both suddenly heard Sienna say, and they looked up to see her stood in front of them with a pale looking Maggie next to her.

"Everything okay?" Daryl asked looking up.

"Yeah, I'm just feeling a bit off colour," Maggie replied with a weak smile.

"I'm going to walk Maggie back, as Glenn and Rick have gone off for talks with Monroe," Sienna explained, the breeze blowing the braid in her long blonde hair across her face.

"It's okay, you don't have to," Maggie interrupted, looking from Sienna to Daryl.

"You can't go back on your own," Sienna insisted.

"I'll go back with Maggie," Carol suddenly said abruptly, standing up.

"Okay," Maggie said sensing a little tension.

….

Daryl didn't say anything to Sienna, as they watched Carol and Maggie walking away, he knew Sienna thought Carol was a little off.

"She okay?" Sienna asked referring to Carol, her blue eyes round and inquisitive as she looked at Daryl. She knew Carol meant a lot to him

"I dunno," Daryl replied truthfully. "She aint herself still," he explained, although truth be told he was finding Carol's hot and cold behaviour a little baffling.

"You know she's in love with you," Sienna blurted out.

"Nah," Daryl responded firmly, and he creased his brow from where he was hiding behind his hair, as he was quick to dismiss her statement again, "Nah, aint like that," he repeated, shaking his head.

"Maybe not for you, but it is for her, Daryl," Sienna continued gently. She had spotted it straight away, that Carol was in love with him, but she knew first hand how Daryl wasn't exactly the sharpest at spotting female signals towards him, and he needed Sienna to spell it out right now, because he needed to understand why Carol was behaving a little off. Daryl had told Sienna he hadn't had sex with anyone since the start of the outbreak, and she believed him. But Sienna wasn't a fool she could see the love he and Carol had for each other, maybe if things had been different? So right now it couldn't be easy for Carol to see him with another woman, when for a while it had just been her.

Daryl shook his head again, his jaw gaped open slightly as he watched Carol walking away in the distance. Could Sienna be right? Deep down had he known that all along?

"Come on," he said in a low gravelly voice, and he touched Sienna's arm, as he jerked his head in the direction of their place. The night was drawing in fast and he was aware that this was his last night before he, Monroe, Rick, Glenn and a few others went out into the infected zones again…..

 _ **A/N - Thanks for reading. This was a short chapter, but who doesn't love a little Caryl friendship to clear the air! Keep reading. There is more action (and maybe some smut) to come soon! ;) ;) Thanks again so much for all the support so far! Please review as it really motivates me to write more!**_


	38. THIRTY EIGHT

_**A/N - Not long until TWD returns! :) :) And I am starting to get excited and impatient now, so here is the next chapter to keep us going in the run up! It is some more Daryl & Sienna action to get back into it.. and just because...T**_ _ **hey need some time before the action starts up again! WARNING -* adult content! ***_

 _ **Also if you are still reading please let me know and thanks a million for the on-going support and sticking with me. I haven't written fanfic for a while now, so this chapter is easing me back into it too!**_

* * *

Sienna squeezed her eyes shut and pressed her cheek against Daryl's warm shoulder, she was trying to force herself to sleep. She was restless and she knew why. It was always the same the night before a trip. This time it was Daryl going out without her into the unknown again away from their safe little bubble back here at the military base and refugee centre. They had arrived back on the helicopter days before, narrowly missing being caught in the air strikes back at the red zone that his people had been surviving in. It didn't seem as though they had been back five minutes, but now Daryl was heading back out there again with some of the other guys to another red-zone where there was intelligence that there was a violent group operating and gaining momentum. The infected were picking up in numbers again there too due to their rule, and things were getting out of control. It was dangerous. Sienna knew that Daryl could take care of himself, and that the odds were stacked in his favour to return to her safely. But still the butterflies were there and they always would be. A world without him now would be truly unthinkable.

She could tell from his breathing that he was still awake too, she slowly ran her finger tip over the top of the thick scar covering his right shoulder blade. He didn't flinch. He never flinched when she touched him there anymore. One of the precious signs he had let her in, he had opened up to her fully and let her love him. She carefully replaced hr fingers with her soft lips kissing his exposed skin against the edge of his devil tattoo. He responded by shuffling himself back very subtly against her. She couldn't see his face but she knew his eyes were open. She took a moment to inhale his scent, it was musky and familiar and she loved it.

Daryl looked lazily through the hair falling over his weathered face against the plump pillow. It was a full moon and the light from it was dazzling, splashing against the walls and ceiling, turning the room silver. He felt his body relax back against Sienna's gentle caress. They had both been exhausted when they had collapsed back into bed earlier that night, physically and mentally. Daryl's conversation with Carol was amongst other things playing on his mind, he was concerned for her, she had a lot of shit to work through. Then there had been Sienna's updates from Amelia on various developments around the place, it was clear that there were things happening higher up. He also had to prepare himself for the next trip outside again too, this time with Rick accompanying them too.

But despite their fatigue somehow they hadn't quite managed to fall into a deep sleep yet. Their minds too busy.

Sienna's hand glided over Daryl's upper back as she kissed him some more and he felt his body respond with a familiar tingling of arousal, and her hand was soon caressing his hardness over the strained fabric of his tattered underpants. His breathing quickened and then with a supple, quick movement she had manoeuvred herself around. He lifted himself up off the mattress slightly as she tugged down his underpants. Her long silky hair brushed his thighs while her mouth found him and she gripped him. Daryl felt as though he was going to explode with pleasure as she sucked and licked all the right places. He was enjoying her tongue a little too much as he lay back flat against the pillow, groaning slightly with the sight of her doing that to him, she turned him on so fucking much, her lips and tongue could drive him crazy. She smiled to herself with what she was doing to him and the physical effect she was having on him as he lightly set his hands on the back of her head and moaned, his hair falling fully over his face. She wanted to make him feel good, so so good. His breathing quickly started to come in ragged breaths while she moved her hand in a steady up and down motion and Sienna found it intently satisfying to feel him spurt suddenly into her mouth with a final deep groan of ecstasy.

"Fuck!" he muttered in a deep gravelly voice as she flicked her long eyelashes up in his direction to watch him jerk the hair out of his eyes and compose himself. He gave her a shy and boyish grin as she crawled up the bed to lie by his side again. A grin she knew he saved only for her at special moments. "Fuck you're good at that, girl," he mumbled again, fixing his eyes on her flushed face and ruffled blonde hair from where his fingers had been tangled up in it.

They laid like that for a few minutes, their breathing filling the room, before Sienna reached sideways to switch on her lamp and find the crumpled packet of cigarettes from her drawer, slowly she put one to her most lips and lit it with a single match from the strip she kept along with them. Sienna wouldn't have dreamed of smoking in bed, or at all even, before the world had changed. Now things were different.

"You got another one of those?" Daryl asked casually, propping himself up on to his elbows.

"Mmm.." Sienna replied and handed him the one in her hand after taking a long drag, changing her mind about wanting a smoke after all.

The carefree smile had disappeared from her face now and she looked more serious. Daryl watched her carefully as he put her smoke to his mouth, and a little concern formed in his narrowing eyes. Something was on her mind now. He knew her too well, the vacant glassy look that was forming in her wide blue eyes together with the way she was fiddling with the edges of her hair signalled something was troubling her. He studied her some more as a silence fell between them. He wondered if he'd done something, or maybe even if it was Carol still, he'd pushed the brief exchange that they'd had about her out of his mind since they'd gotten back, but he couldn't help but think now about what Sienna had said about his friend being secretly in love with him.

But something told him it wasn't Carol. It was something else.

"Summat bothering ya?" he eventually asked after blowing smoke away from her and lowering the cigarette. He wasn't the best at reading women's moods or saying the right thing, he knew that.

"Nah." She hugged her knees to her chest and made a concerted effort to use as breezy tone as she could as she tucked a lock of her blonde hair behind her ear and swallowed dryly. His eyes looked almost sad now, which made her feel sad. Part of her wanted to ask him to stay here with her and not to go back out there the next day. But she knew that wasn't an option. This was bigger than just them. As much as she wanted to shut the rest of the world out right now, he wasn't just hers, she had to share him. He had his own group too, and he had a responsibility to go out there, to do what he could to help restore some sort of civilisation again. He was needed and not just by her. There were still red zones, and the goal was to clear out the infected, to round up the survivors good and bad, and to try and save as many people as possible. That was the goal. But something recently had been making her feel uneasy. Things weren't always as they seemed with the world, she was a journalist she knew that, and right now she had a feeling…just a feeling.

It went quiet.

She lifted her head and held his worried gaze, "I'm just going to miss you that's all."

"I won't be gone long," he replied bluntly, wrinkling his brow.

"I know."

There was another pause. Sienna broke the silence, "Things are changing though, you know, Daryl. Amelia said they are transferring a lot of people out of here. She's not sure where or why yet. I just have this feeling…." she trailed off. She knew anxiety was getting the better of her here, but she'd heard rumours.

Daryl looked into her blinking blue eyes, "I owe these people and so does Rick and Glenn, we're going to help them if we can. We have skills out there that they need," he explained, his eyes were creasing now with both concern, slight confusion and the desire to reassure her. He had gotten his head around the fact that he had found someone to open up to in a way that he had thought that he never could, but he still wasn't quite used to someone caring on this level about him being out there risking his life. He knew how much she loved him now, he loved her too like that. But he had to keep reminding himself that Sienna hadn't been with him since the start. She hadn't been there at the quarry, or at Hershel's farm, or at the prison, terminus, Alexandria….none of it, she had been far far away. She didn't get it in the same way that he did, or that Rick did, or that Maggie and Glenn, Carol and Michonne did. When one or some of them had been out there, there was always a natural concern but there had also been an acceptance too that it was just the way that it had to be now, part of life. They risked their lives on a daily basis.

He studied her form beside him, her hair was hanging in loose messy waves over her bare curves, the smooth skin on her thighs glistened as she continued to grip her knees to her chest. She was so beautiful to him. She gave him so much pleasure, not just in a physical way, she made him feel safe and comfortable and wanted and happy. He didn't want to fuck that up, but he also knew that good things didn't last long for him.

The dim light illuminating the room from the small lamp by the bed flickered and Sienna drew in a heavy breath. She thought back to the person she had been when she had first arrived here and before Daryl had come crashing into her life, she had been a little more focused, slightly lost at times and reckless, but she had been desperate to get out there and make a difference, she had thrown her heart and soul into doing what she had thought was right and into helping the right people, that was what had led her to Daryl in the first place. She had been eager to go outside the safety of the centre here, to find out what was happening. That desire hadn't completely gone, she was still carrying that fire as she saw it, but after the events of the past couple of weeks she suddenly had more reservations. Things were worse than she could have possibly imagined. She had a lot more to lose now.

After losing her family finding love again had been the last thing on her mind, and Daryl had been unexpected, but getting to know him had been exciting and wonderful at the same time. He had fascinated her right from their very first encounter. He had made her see things and people for what they really were, he didn't judge and he was real and alive and here right now. Despite the odds, they were both here again, their hearts were beating, blood was flowing through their veins. They had cheated death. A big side to her wished that time could stand still now. That they could stay here in their own little safe place, peaceful and content in their little house with their dog and chickens and friends near by. Nowhere was exactly like it had been before the infection, but here was as safe as anywhere could be. They had a comfortable bed, electricity and hot running water, there was food and medicine and most importantly there was hope. The glimmer of a future in sight. But Sienna knew Daryl well enough now to know that he wasn't the type to turn down an adventure, a chance to be of help if he could, he was carrying the fire too and he would put himself in the path of danger to help others again and again. That was just who he was.

She also knew that deep down he still felt as though on some level his life just wasn't as valuable as other peoples.

But some day she vowed, _she would change that!_

 _ **A/N - Thanks so much for reading! Please review if you can, would mean a lot! Next chapter up soon.**_


	39. THIRTY NINE

_**A/N - Thanks as always for all your on going support, and a big welcome to new readers! OMFG I can't believe the show at the moment! Hope this chapter can take some pain away!**_ _ **I would also like to say that this story is NOT going the way that you think and this chapter is more of a subplot!**_

Daryl was sat in silence in the drivers seat of their new vehicle with Rick by his side and Glenn and Abraham in the back as they sped down an abandoned and empty freeway. The sight of a large military truck was in his eyeshot ahead and it reminded Daryl that they weren't alone out here on this latest adventure. The game had changed, yet again. Here they had back up. There wasn't the same anxiety and uncertainty that normally accompanied them on an excursion out into the un-known. Distance was all that mattered out here and with his foot on the gas Daryl kept up the pace.

Rick shifted his hand up to clasp his chin and his eyes moved sideways to rest on his trusted friend and for a long time second hand man, Daryl had never been a man of many words and right now was no exception, but the silence between them was a comfortable one. Daryl's eyes were slits framed by the edges of his long hair and he appeared quiet and thoughtful as they made they way along the deserted roads. There were no abandoned vehicles here, no walkers roaming around, no signs of other looters and survivors, nothing. It had all been cleared. It was bizarre. A completely different world to the one that they had all grown so used to over the past few years since the start of the outbreak and the loss of all life as they had known it. The landscape here was still blighted all around them and there was no escaping the hordes of humanity that had been wiped out, but their desperate struggle to survive seemed to be finally tuning a corner. A small light was insight now. There wasn't quite the familiar smell of death and desperation that had been all around them for so long, never knowing quite whether the next day would be their last.

Rick, Glenn and Abraham had come out with Daryl on a military mission led by Steve Monroe to gather intelligence and hunt down a dangerous group operating in the nearest red 'infected' zone. They had barely had the time to get comfortable in a place that had offered them shelter, food and hope, when they had found that a calling had come to them yet again to be a part of something bigger. Although this time they could relax a little more knowing that they weren't completely on their own. Protecting their family now wasn't just on their shoulders. There was a world functioning again and they could be part of the evolution of that, of restoring some kind of civilisation again. It was both exciting, and a little overwhelming and unbelievable at the same time.

"Man, we must be mad," Abraham said loudly, breaking the silence. "Leaving that place to come back out here again." Abraham had been touted the same as Rick had to join them, ex-military he had valuable skills. Glenn too, had been on their radar as someone worth recruiting, just like Daryl had been when he had first arrived. They were all vets out here, hardened and experienced.

Daryl shifted in his seat he knew Abraham was vocalising what they were all thinking. They had all left something behind in their willingnesses to get out here and to risk their own lives again. Glenn had a pregnant wife, Rick had two kids one of them an infant, and Abraham had a woman he appeared to love, and Daryl now too had someone that had made him look at the world in a whole new way, that had maybe even made him think twice about the hap hazard way he always put himself in the line of danger so readily, maybe! But coming out here due to a sense of duty, a desire to help and do the right thing, wasn't the only reason that they were all where they were at this exact moment, Daryl knew that, there was a part of all of them, of him, Rick, Glenn and Abraham that was plain addicted to the adrenaline that came with the constant danger of adventure. Sitting back in a place where they could be comfortable and safe in theory seemed like a wonderful idea, but in reality could they ever adapt to that again? Would there always be that calling to put their survival skills into practice? And chase that thrill.

They carried on in silence and Daryl's thoughts were all on Sienna, the one person that had made him open up on a deeper level than he had ever done before. Their connection wasn't just romantic there was more to it than that, he looked into her eyes when he was making love to her and there was an unspeakable bond there, she understood him and he understood her. Even when she wasn't with him he could hear the softness of her voice and feel the heat where her lips had been on his up until recently, woefully neglected body. He could still hear the last phrase she had muttered to him that morning before he had left. _"Don't leave me all alone in this world!" S_ he had said those words to him before, but there had just been something about the way she had said them this particular morning that had got to him more than usual. The look in her blue eyes had been so profound, so deep and emotional. He knew she loved him, and she cared about him in a way no-one ever had ever done before. He felt a fluttering, a rush, as he recalled the three simple words that were always there for him now too when he thought of her - always in his head, in his sleep and more recently to his amazement actually on his lips too, ' _Love you sweetheart'._ The last time being the night before, when he had said them with his hands affectionately on her face as they had been lying facing each other in bed right before they had fallen asleep. He had changed dramatically he knew that. He had something good now.

He swallowed and rubbed his jaw, he knew he had to shut all thoughts of that kind of thing out of his mind now, or he would be no good to anyone. He jerked his head to flick his hair back and he shifted his gaze away from the road for a second and over to where Rick was sat next to him, "They tell you much about what we're doing?" he asked in a low and serious voice, speaking for the first time in a while.

Rick glanced back at him, his eyes serious, "Just that this area needs to be cleared, and there is one rebel group running things," he replied.

"Yeah," Daryl agreed, "They need to be taken out by all accounts. They're bad news."

Daryl still wasn't quite sure what the exact protocol was in these types of situations when a rebel group needed to be stopped. The intel they had pointed to this group killing and terrorising everyone in the area. There were still infected here and things were out of control. You were either a walker or you worked for the bad guys. Daryl knew the mission was usually to round up survivors and take them back to the military base to be de-briefed and rehabilitated to work again and contribute. But he also knew that wasn't the exact case for all the survivors they found. Sienna, Monroe and quite a few of the others back at the base, had mentioned that a lot of the survivors they encountered were just too far gone to come back, to be able to ever become human again, which was a chilling thought but not one that surprised Daryl in the least. Daryl had his suspicions about what happened to those types of people once they were captured, but he didn't know anything for sure.

"Monroe mentioned the leader, they think there is one guy in particular calling the shots," Rick responded.

Daryl shrugged, "Not sure I believe in the bogeyman" he mumbled. In his experience things weren't always that straightforward. "Just need to take out the ringleaders."

The drove on in silence for several more miles.

Daryl glanced up at the sky to see a dark cloud was looming above, things were shifting he could sense it. They had passed through the check point and were officially now back in a red zone again, he knew any minute now there would be walkers appearing, wildlife disappearing and destruction creeping up into the horizon.

"Dixon you there? You copy?" It was Monroe on Daryl's radio. Their vehicle was now out of eyeshot.

"Yeah, I'm here," he replied in a low and serious voice.

"Listen carefully you gotta…. " his voice crackled and became inaudible…..

"Monroe, Monroe you there?' Daryl said hastily. "Damn it," he cursed as the radio crackled some more and the voice completely broke up.

Keeping his cool Daryl sped on when the unmistakable loud sound of a gunshot suddenly seared through their vehicle, the side of their car had been hit. Then again and again! They were under attack.

"Jesus," Daryl heard Abraham exclaim loudly from behind him and Daryl too cursed under his breath "Fuck!' as adrenaline zapped through his system. He tried to maintain control of the vehicle as it swerved across the road, and Daryl figured out a tyre must have been hit, he slammed on the brakes knowing it would do little good as he surrendered all control and they spun around and around in the middle of the bumpy road before the car rolled over. As it was Daryl barely had time to yell out before the air bags knocked him back and sideways. The car tumbled over and over down into a grassy verge at the edge of some woods before coming to an absolute stop. _For a second everything went Black!_

Daryl's body slammed into the dashboard his forehead colliding with the window. He became disoriented as he drifted in and out of conciseness, he could see a bright light flickering in front of his eyes and he could hear a voice, Sienna's voice, in his ear, her bright blue eyes seemed to be there with him as he tried to prize his own eyes open to see. Opening them fully he struggled to free himself from the wreck of metal around him, using all his strength to pull himself out he groaned as he looked back into the back seat to see that it was empty, Glenn and Abraham were gone. He turned his attention to Rick in the passenger seat still, and Daryl darted to his side quickly to set to work to pulling him out too.

"Thanks," Rick muttered, stumbling to his feet after Daryl had managed to hoist him out and on to the grass. A trickle of blood wound down Rick's face and he instinctively reached down to feel his gun was still on his belt.

"You okay man?" Daryl asked with concern.

"Yeah," Rick replied. He was injured they both knew that, but Rick like Daryl was a fighter, if he could stand and walk he was okay.

"Glenn and Abraham have gone, must have been thrown from the wreck," Daryl explained, turning his attention to the ground to try and pick up their tracks.

"We'll find them," Rick assured. He'd been hurt worse than this he discovered as he tried to walk some more, he'd taken a nasty knock to his head and his back was injured but there were no broken bones so far as he could tell. He'd heal.

"You sure you're good?' Daryl asked again in a low voice.

"I'm fine," Rick dismissed waving his hand.

Daryl nodded once in agreement. Rick was stubborn. He needed to be checked over by a doctor and Amelia was in Monroe's crew out here to do that once they hooked up with them again, but right now finding Glenn and Abraham had to be their first priority.

"There's tracks, this way," Daryl said gesturing with his head deeper into the forest. There was more than two sets of tracks which wasn't a good sign. Daryl knew that they urgently needed back up. He reached down for his radio but the light was off, before a faint sound could be heard from the other end.

"Monroe, you copy?" he asked, desperately fiddling with the knobs on it. "If you can hear us, we've hit trouble, we're at…." he said reeling off their approximate location, as he hoped someone was picking it up as he and Rick kept moving.

They tore on up the muddy trail kicking up dirt with their heels, Rick was hobbling a little as he struggled to keep up with Daryl. Seemingly out of no-where walkers had begun looming around them. At first they tried to fight them off, but they soon realised it was an ill use of their energy and resources, instead they picked up the pace as they tried to dodge them. They scrambled off the trail, up a bank and deeper into the woods. Daryl could suddenly make out the sound of voices in front of them and within seconds he had exchanged a look with Rick as they both ducked behind bristles of shrubbery and hunched down, observing a gang of men in front of them. Their hearts were pumping wildly and fresh adrenaline was spiking their veins as they made out around six or seven men gathered around with guns, and before he even saw them Daryl already knew it. Glenn and Abraham had been caught! He felt his heart sink as he focused in on them both kneeling on the ground with guns pointed at their heads.

In an old life Daryl would have stormed in and acted on impulse. Not now. Rick had taught him that. Instead he sat tight, desperately looking to find anything that could give them the upper hand on these guys. He didn't plan on anyone in his group dying today. He took a deep breath and looked across at Rick.

 _ **Thanks for reading, and sorry for the cliffhanger! But I am trying not to write such long chapters! I would also like to say again that this story is NOT going the way that you think and this chapter is more of a subplot! Please leave a review if you can? :)**_


	40. FOURTY

"Fuck," Daryl muttered under his breath, his eyes were deadly serious slits hidden behind his long dark hair. This wasn't the first time that he had been in this position and he feared it probably wouldn't be the last. He drew in a breath weighing up the risks, if he revealed himself now he would possibly be taken out too, him and Rick along with Glenn and Abe too. There had to be another way, there had to be an element of surprise involved here if they were to gain the upper hand. There was a group of rebel men holding Glenn and Abe captive and right now Glenn had a gun pointed straight at his head.

Daryl glanced to his side to note Rick was on the same page too. They knew that time wasn't on their side, but they had to act strategically. Rick moved back slightly to gesture to Daryl, causing the smallest of ripples in the ground beneath him from where he was still a little weak and disorientated from the car wreck. He stumbled even more losing his footing completely as he tried to grip hold of the branch of a tree behind him. He quickly managed to compose himself, both him and Daryl now praying it hadn't given away their position.

Daryl felt a hit of adrenaline slice through him as he paid stealthy attention to the scene in front of him, is face stoney serious. He knew it…. as he watched the first guy holding a gun to Glenn's head pause, Daryl knew that they had been caught. The psychopathic looking man held his gun up and away from Glenn waving it in the air as he spoke up, "We know you're out there, so why don't y'just come on out real nice and slow. We got your boys, so don't try nothin stupid."

Before stepping out to meet them Daryl felt for the second gun that he kept in his left pant leg. He hoped Rick also had something on him that would help them gain the upper hand on these guys now, because he sure as hell didn't plan on dying today. With a final unspoken glance at Rick and jerk of the head, Daryl threw his hands up and stepped out, closely followed by Rick. There was no point hiding now, their cover was blown.

Daryl had thought by this stage that he had become pretty fearless, but right now he was fucking terrified. It was him and Rick against a group of armed guys, they had his friends, and now they had both him and Rick too and neither of them had a plan.

"Throw over your weapons, all of em," the leader ordered.

Reluctantly Daryl slid over both his guns and for a split second he shared eye contact with Glenn, their looks bearing the weight of, _'Are you alright?'_ and ' _Yeah'_ quite deftly. Daryl had become so in tune with his fellow survival family that they could communicate easily without words.

"Get down on the ground, on your knees," the leader instructed loudly. He had a dark moustache and cold, hard eyes, there was no empathy or compassion anywhere about him, he was a hardened killer, Daryl could quite clearly see that. Both he and Rick did what they were told and knelt down.

"We don't want no trouble," Daryl said in a low voice. He laced his fingers behind his head and kept still, he knew one wrong move would give this asshole the excuse to kill him.

The leader chuckled, it was deep and menacing as he replied, "Too bad."

Daryl felt his blood simmer beneath the surface, these guys weren't going to show them any mercy. He wished he had his bow, he'd have put an arrow through the leader's eye already.

"You care to tell us what you're doing out here?" the man asked. "Who you're working for?" he probed further.

Daryl lifted his head slightly, tossing the hair out of his eyes with one movement. "Car came off the road," he answered carefully.

"You got a car and gas?"

"Yeah," Daryl spoke up again, glancing to Rick, this was his time to do all the talking, Rick wasn't their leader here, and besides that he was still looking a little disorientated from the their earlier accident. "We got a place we can take you…" he knew he had to choose his words carefully here all these people would be concerned with was what they could get and how they could put out any potential threats to their survival in the process. Kill or be killed.

"Where?"

"Further east, we got stuff we could give you, guns, food and water, in exchange for our lives," Daryl continued in a low steady voice, trying to keep his cool.

"Well aint that convenient," the leader retorted with an evil grin. "Why should we believe you? What's stopping us just blowing your fucking brains out right now?" The grip on his gun tightened.

"Because we're telling the truth, there is civilisation there, and if you kill us you'll live to regret it," Rick spoke up now from where he was knelt down next to Daryl, Glenn and Abraham, his damp wavy hair was plastered to his face, framing his fierce steely glare.

"Well from where I am standing you aren't really in a position to be negotiating, I don't see much civilisation, all I see is four assholes. So which one of you wants to die first?" He waved the barrel of his gun at Rick, and then turned it on Daryl.. "How bout you?" he turned it to Glenn.

"Stop," Daryl hissed, he knew he had to act fast and keep his cool still, without flinching he locked eyes with the rebel leader. He would gladly give his life for Glenn's he knew he would. The adrenaline pulsed through him faster and faster. "You want blood take mine."

A shadow appeared to the side of them, causing everyone to tilt their heads to see what it was….

"Drop your weapons," a fierce sounding male voice suddenly said.

Daryl breathed a deep sigh of relief, it was Monroe, they had tracked them down.

Then all hell broke loose.

Gun fire rang out in all directions. It didn't take long for the rebel group's vastly outnumbered men to admit defeat to Monroe's armed soldiers. The few that were left of the rebels were rounded up, including the leader.

Daryl took a small gulp of air as he surveyed the scene around him, it had taken less than a minute for them to seize victory. It was another reminder of how things had changed, they had proper back up out here now, in just a split second a blink of an eye, everything was back to normal, the threat was distinguished. They were fighters and would keep fighting on, but having numbers was everything. Times had changed. Relief seeped over him some more, he was still breathing as was Rick, Glenn and Abraham. He looked around at the bodies, wondering what was next…

"You okay?" Daryl suddenly heard Amelia say, the petite doctor he had forgotten was even out here had interrupted his moment.

"Yup," Daryl responded with a nod of his head. "He's in need of some attention though," he added jerking his dark hair towards Rick.

…..

"Look straight ahead," Amelia instructed as she shone a light in Rick's pupils. "Now lean over," she said. Rick winced. "You'll live but you've sprained a muscle in your back, could turn nasty, you'll need some manipulation on that to get it straight. Once you're back, go and see Sienna, she'll sort you out," Amelia said seriously.

Confusion spread across Rick's face as he watched Amelia walk away to tend to someone else. _'Go and see Sienna?'_

* * *

"You don't like me very much," Sienna said from where she was sat next to Carol. She had perched down on the wall next to the older woman uninvited from where she had spotted her there on her own, and the atmosphere in the early evening air was a little cool and tense.

Carol looked up and squinted in the setting sun to catch Sienna's eye for a second but she didn't say anything as her mouth set into a line. She was taking a break from the mundane work she had volunteered to do here, washing and ironing laundry.

"It's okay you don't have to say anything," Sienna blurted out, she wasn't quite sure what had made her say that first statement so boldly, the words had just come tumbling out of her mouth. There was plenty more she wanted to say too, that she thought the other woman was so strong and courageous, and beautiful too she had such interesting, deep eyes and delicate bone structure and her skin was amazing, Sienna admired her more than words, and she knew that Carol was better than just doing laundry, she could really be someone here. She was special, and most importantly she was special to Daryl.

"He loves you, you know," Sienna continued, looking directly at Carol and forcing her to look back into her own round and expressive blue eyes again. She knew she needed to clear the air here with Carol for Daryl if nothing else. Carol meant so much to Daryl and Sienna didn't want to come between that.

Carol's expression changed, and her lips twitched slightly at the edges, "Not like he loves you,' she said her eyes softening a little with a glimmer of light.

"I dunno, he l _oves_ us both," Sienna reasoned. From the little that she had gleamed from Daryl here and there, he and Carol had always gravitated towards each other when things had been rough, they had leaned on each other and she had seen for her own eyes the bond that was there, it was rare these days and special. It was hard not to feel just a tad jealous by it, threatened even if Sienna was completely honest, threatened by the fact that there was someone else that Daryl cared about that deeply besides herself, a person that also knew him inside and out. That he would die for given the chance.

"I'm not the one sucking his dick," Carol retorted bluntly catching Sienna by surprise, she hadn't seen that one coming. At first Sienna was unsure how to react, before she saw Carol's eyes light up fully now with a mischievous sparkle and they both laughed, lightening the mood.

"Well I guess I do have the edge there," Sienna said, her cheeks flushing pink as a lock of her light hair fell over her eye. Her physical intimacy with Daryl was something none else could rival she knew that.

A silence came between the two women again, this time a little more comfortable as they fell back into their own thoughts.

"I guess I wanted to say…..just give me chance, okay," Sienna said seriously breaking the silence again.

This time Carol smiled and nodded. They weren't there yet, but perhaps one day they could be friends.

...

Sienna drew in a breath the fresh salty air drifting in from the ocean filling her lungs. Her eyes became steady to the horizon in front of them, her face aglow with the last orange rays before twilight beckoned the stars. She glanced to her side to see Carol too was fixated with the sky in front of them her lips bearing the semblance of a smile now, just enough to show that she was content with her thoughts, whatever they may be. Sienna smiled too and stayed quiet, allowing them both to stay lost in the moment a while longer.

In the distance the bright glow of headlights slowly appeared getting closer and closer, both the women's attention became quickly focused on a procession of vehicles coming towards them through the main gates.

Sienna's heart pounded suddenly and she was hit with the familiar wave of intense anxiety that she always experienced upon Daryl's return, she knew that they were living on the edge out here. She stood up to walk towards where the first truck had now stopped. It was Rick that stepped out first, before Sienna spotted Daryl's familiar dark brown boots and black jeans and she felt a relief seep over her. He was okay.

She walked towards him to see he looked bruised and tired as his deep blue eyes instantly locked with hers, he had a story to tell, but right now it didn't matter, and as usual when they were near each other everything became just that little bit warmer and brighter than it had been before…Daryl didn't know it but he was a hero, Sienna thought. She leaned in and touched her forehead to his for a moment, wrapping her arms around his neck and drinking in his scent, before they broke apart and she whispered, "You're back…"

 **THANKS FOR READING, PLEASE REVIEW... MORE CHAPTERS COMING :)**


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